Bicicleta Voladora (the Flying Bicycle) is a co-lab between university mates; the affable young wine maker German Blanco of Quinta Milu and viticulturalist Javier Collio. Javier who's from Rioja was lamenting the lack of Quinta Milu style wines from Rioja, especially Rioja Baja; the lower, flatter area of Rioja's south east, bordering Navarra. Huge volumes of wine is grown here, usually for blending with the more prestigious and expensive Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Alta vineyards or to be tricked up with cheap oak and oxidation to mimic the great old traditional houses of Rioja. In the opinion of Javier, however, this was a missed opportunity; sure the flatter areas and red soils of Rioja Baja may not make the finest 'Grand Cru' worthy Tempranillo but it was perfectly capable of growing delicious, honest wines that are true to their origins - exactly as Javier's friend German was doing in Ribera del Duero with Quinta Milu. So the pair decided to do it themselves, they rented a little winery and two vineyards that were already being farmed organically and the Flying Bicycle was born! Voladora follows much of the Quinta Milu minimal intervention winemaking and organic viticulture philosophy; indigenous yeast ferments, aging in concrete and porous plastic eggs rather than oak with the goal to make bright, pleasurable wine that over delivers for the price. In a way that's true to the origins of the grapes, this isn't Rioja Baja Temp pretending to be anything it's not, but it is Rioja Baja Tempranillo that's bright, fresh and lively and most importantly, amazing with a pizza.
