Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos del Marqués de Legarda – Viñedos de Ábalos 2020
Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos del Marqués de Legarda – Viñedos de Ábalos 2020
Lindes de Remelluri (Borders of Remelluri) is the result of a visionary and broadly representative social initiative at Remelluri to emphasize the identity and prestige of the village-specific wines of Rioja. Lindes de Remelluri is a social and economic project rooted in collaboration with trusted grower-partners from villages near the Granja Remelluri property with the goal of improving their surroundings and communities by encouraging consumers to ask one question: Where does your Rioja wine come from?
With Lindes de Remelluri, Telmo Rodríguez seeks to evolve the dialogue regarding the future of the Rioja region from one of aging methods, grape varieties, and blends (wines made in the cellar) to a conversation focused on villages, sites, terroir, and responsible economic and ecological vineyard stewardship (wines made in the vineyard). The growers for Lindes utilize ancestral farming techniques, which include organic, biodynamic, and regenerative vineyard practices.
Ábalos is a municipality in the autonomous region of La Rioja, on the left bank of the river Ebro, 15 km from Haro. It is bounded on the north by the Sierra de Toloño mountains, on the south by San Asensio and Baños de Ebro, on the east by Samaniego and Villabuena de Álava, and to the west by San Vicente de la Sonsierra. This region has considerable elevation change from north to south, with the Toloño mountain range at over 1000m, descending to 500m in the Ebro Valley. Ábalos and San Vicente are the only towns in La Rioja on the left bank of the Ebro River in the Rioja Alta subzone. However, they have more in common in style, geography, and geologic composition with Rioja Alavesa. The village is one of the most beautiful and distinctive villages of Rioja.
Viñedos de Ábalos comprises 3ha of vineyards located in a distinct mountain landscape with a huge, sweeping valley between the vineyards of Remelluri and Ostatu, owned by the Marqués de Legarda and his Bodegas de la Real Divisa. The specific vineyards were selected by Telmo Rodríguez, referring to them as “the cherry on the cake.”
Vinification – In the cellar, rather than using winemaking and technique to transform the wines, they aim for consistency across the range to guide each expression to reach the full potential of the place. Telmo describes the Lindes winemaking as a “winery in the back, village in the front.” Grapes for Lindes are hand-harvested in small crates and spontaneously fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel. The wine undergoes spontaneous malolactic fermentation and is aged 12 months in oak barrels of various provenance, size, and age.