Artuke Rioja - 2024 (750ml)

Fresh and fruity, the Artuke 'Artuke' is made by a process both traditional and historical in Rioja Alavesa: carbonic maceration, the result of which is a very fruity wine meant to be drunk young, with light structure that is incredibly easy to drink. This Artuke is 95% Tempranillo with 5% of the white grape Viura. The grapes are hand harvested and vatted (without destemming) in 12,000kg stainless steel tanks, where they undergo spontaneous malolactic fermentation. The wine is that aged for five months in cement tanks before being bottled after a soft filtration and without stabilization. 

Artuke is a portmanteau of brothers Arturo and Kike de Miguel Blanco.

Carbonic maceration  (according to The Oxford Dictionary of Wine) is a winemaking process where whole bunches of grapes are deliberately placed in an anaerobic environment. An intracellular fermentation takes place with the intact berries, forming many flavorful aromatic compounds. This technique is very closely associated with the wines from Beaujolais, but is not exclusive to the region. 

Previous vintages have been called, "Always one of Rioja’s great bargains...unwooded Rioja at its individual best," by Tim Atkin MW