Remelluri
Rioja Reserva 2015
Remelluri Rioja Reserva 2015
Remelluri became the first single-estate/monopole Rioja of the modern era with its release of the 1971 vintage. Remelluri is produced by the brother and sister team of Telmo Rodríguez (winemaker) and Amaia Rodríguez Hernandorena (viticulturist), with Telmo’s winemaking partner, the prolific Pablo Eguzkiza (trained at Château Petrus).
Remelluri’s vineyards are located contiguously along the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño mountains, part of the Sierra de Cantabria chain, in the valleys of Valderemelluri, La Granja, and Villaescusa, just above the village of Labastida in Rioja Alavesa. The organically-farmed vineyards here are at the highest elevation in the Rioja region, with vines planted between 590m and 805m, south-facing, and protected from the prevailing northern winds and frost. The Remelluri landscape is an integrated system of agriculture with great respect for the environment, which includes regenerative and agroforestry elements employed to achieve biodiversity and harmony between the vineyard, mountainside, and human elements.
The estate consists of over a hundred individual plots, all of which are vinified separately. One of the keys to the location’s significance is that the vines are planted in terraced amphitheaters following the contours of the mountainside, which shelters them from the harsh weather on the leeward side. Remelluri is pure mountain Rioja.
Remelluri Reserva is the original wine from Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri, sourced from the most important vineyards consisting of 153 plots in 25 sites at the contiguous property. Only indigenous varieties are used, planted from 1918 until today, averaging 40 years old. The blend consists primarily of goblet-trained tempranillo, garnacha, and graciano varieties with an average yield of 29hl/ha. Only grapes from the estate are used for Remelluri Reserva. Certified organic farming (certified by ENEEK, the Basque Agricultural Regulatory Council) and made with low intervention, unfiltered, and minimal sulfur at bottling.
Vintage – 2015 was marked by excellent and even weather conditions that resulted in exceptional vintage quality. The large water reserve due to a cold, wet winter with abundant snow in February and March favored optimal vegetative development. After a mild spring, veraison arrived early due to a hot, dry summer with the rains in September, which led to early technical ripening. This situation forced a long and selective hand-harvest by individual plants and bunches in search of the optimum phenological ripeness. Bunches were hand-harvested from September 22 until October 25.
2015 was an atypical yet gratifying year with particularly good grape health, combining youthful fruit with complex aromatics and developed flavors, power with elegance. The wine comes through as clean and defined, with a medium to full-bodied palate, focused flavors, and a very long, dry, and lively finish. 2015 was an exceptional vintage at Remelluri that is certain to continue to evolve in bottle for decades to come.
Vinification – Bunches were hand-selected daily vine-by-vine between September 22 until October 25, placed in small boxes and taken directly to the winery. Whole clusters are destemmed and crushed, and the must is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks and old, open-top foudres. It is then aged 21 months in foudres and barrels of various sizes, followed by more than five years of bottle aging in the Remelluri cellar. Made with low intervention and bottled unfiltered May 2018.