Rioja Bodegas Aldonia 2021

Rioja Aldonia is made from a blend of 90% Garnacha and 10% Tempranillo before being aged in oak for 15 months. The grapes are sourced from vineyards which sit at up to 600 meters above sea level which gives the wine amazing freshness. It is a pretty wine with red flower aromas and lovely garden herb notes. The palate is bigger than the nose suggests with complex flavours of strawberries and cream, cherries, orange peel and subtle cedar. It is pure silk on the palate, medium-bodied, fine and velvety.

Brothers Ivan & Mario Santos are 4th generation wine makers who took over Bodegas Aldonia in 2006. Their aim was to produce a modern style of Rioja that expressed the grape varieties and terroir of the region. The brothers set about adopting organic practices and changed the focus from Tempranillo to Garnacha. As a result, hey now farm 16 hectares of vineyards of which eight are Garnacha. Most of the vineyards sit between 400 & 850 meters above sea level and some are 100 years old which gives them magical old vines to work with. The wines are no longer bottled according to age categories – Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva etc - which are so famous in Rioja. They believe that the grape is more important than ageing a wine for a predetermined amount of time when it might not be needed. For this reason, their wines contain high proportions of Garnacha and do not have Crianza or Reserva on the labels because they are aged in barrel for less time than the regulations state. This results in full bodied, lush wines with a better balance of fruit and oak flavours.