Product Profile
Bodegas Exopto Rioja 'Horizonte' de Exopto 2008
Medium-Full Bodied, Dry, Red Wine. 50% Garnacha 30% Tempranillo 20% Graciano. Drink now or cellar. 14% alc.
Tasting Notes
Predominantly old vine Tempranillo (50-90 years of age) with 15% Garnacha (70 years) and 20% Graciano (30 years). This is a stylish, pure Rioja, branded by old vine/low yield authenticity. The oak handling (mostly French) is excellent, complementing rather than dominating the bright fruit. It's a mineral-rich wine with aromas and flavours of small, vibrantly fresh red fruits; the cherry/cola Tempranillo flavours are buttressed by the Garnacha's fragrance and the Graciano's darker, earthy spice. Its fleshy richness is framed by fine, silky tannins. This wine has density, structure and complexity to burn. Only 850 cases made. When you consider the age of the vines, the class of the wine and the limited quality, this is truly a fabulous bargain.
Producer
Bodegas Exopto
Exopto’s old vine holdings surround the town of Abalos at an altitude of 600-plus metres in the Rioja Alavesa district. Of the three districts in Rioja (Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja), Rioja Alavesa is the coolest and has the highest rainfall. So the grapes ripen very late and the resulting wines are naturally the most refined. On the other hand, Exopto’s old vines add intensity and length. Exopto’s Tempranillo vines are between 50-100 years old, their Garnacha (Grenache) vines are 70 years old and their Graciano, 30 years old. Soils here are clay and limestone over a sandy, rocky base. Almost entirely French oak is used in the ageing process.