Artuke
Artuke, Tinto, Rioja, Spain, Tempranillo/Viura, 2024
Don’t let Rioja fool you, this wine is not classic Rioja Style. It’s not super oaked or crazy full bodied. Arturo Miguel is part of a young contingent of growers coming up in Rioja and flipping the script. The younger generation is expressly interested in featuring single plot terroir within Rioja, showing that wines from this region can be more than just one thing or one style. Arturo took over the operation from his parents in the early 2000s and converted everything to organic. The terroir is calcareous sandstone with touches of sand and clay; it's a very similar soil type to Barolo in southern piedmont. Which means it’s going to impart epic flavor and energy to the wine. The tinto is really fun, it's semi carbonically macerated which is a process during fermentation that forces it to start while the grapes are still whole. The result is a light, juicier wine that strikes an awesome balance.
Serving temp: You can chill this all the way down but I would have it at cellar temp around 65 degrees at a minimum.
Pairing: Light meat dishes; roasted delicata squash