Rioja is arguably the best known wine region the world, and especially in the UK where year on year we buy about a third of their total global export. The c.600 winery-strong region, set across the communities of La Rioja, Navarre, and the Basque province of Álava is the spiritual home of Tempranillo. At c.140km from the North coast it benefits from a real continental climate. Moderated by the Cantabiran mountains to the north the best sites, at 400-800m, are in the subregions of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa. Whites are made from Viura but these days Rioja is over 85% red. Oak aging (and choice of oak) plays a huge role, with wines made Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva all having their own distinctive styles and fans. Bodegas Loli Casado is a small, family-run winery in Rioja Alavesa, working with 25 hectares of vines at 425-500 metres altitude. Their vineyards range from newly planted to over 70 years old, with 9 hectares over 70, 12 between 30-45 years, and 4 under 10 years old. Founded by Luis Casado in 1970, the winery passed to his daughter Loli and her husband Jesús in 2000. While modernising the bodega, they remain committed to tradition, using a mix of French and American oak. Grapes are destemmed before carbonic maceration, with delestage and punching down for extraction. The wines age first in fine-grained new oak, then in older casks, ensuring oak integration while letting the fruit shine. || Winemaking Detail: 35-45 years old vines. Grapes are destemmed before pressing in cylindrical VATS with carbonic maceration. Delestage and punching down to extract colour and tannin. First aged in fine grained new oak cask then in slightly older casks; on average 6 years old in order to integrate the oak but let the fruit dominate. || Features Forest-fruits Cherry Cloves Leather Savoury
