What's What's New New Between The Wines Between The Wines

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It’s hard to be a ‘pioneer’ in an established area Especially so in a region that is deeply traditional with established protocols. But when Telmo Rodriguez took over his family estate Remelluri in the early 90’s, he took on that mission and Rioja has not been the same ever since.

Good, old-school Rioja is delicious, and its fans are liege. However, Telmo felt that the formula was more about the process meaning extended ageing in barrels-virtually obliterating any varietal character, and especially any sense of place. The regulations scarcely mentioned geographic requirements other than delineating the sub-zones of Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental (fka Rioja Baja), and indeed using single vineyard names or village names was essentially banned. First committing his family winery to a new direction, Telmo then started a company with his friend Pablo Eguzkiza, a vineyardist, called Compania de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez with a mission of re-discovering some of Spain’s abandoned vineyards and varietals in places like Ribeiro, Toro, Rueda…and Rioja.

Their first move was to un-learn what they had been taught and re-discover how Rioja was made pre-phylloxera, pre-machines and pre-herbicides. The project has now morphed into several projects around Spain, and Bodega Laganza is the Rioja anchor.

Focusing on Lanciego, a village where the Cantabrian mountains meet the cold Atlantic, they produce a couple of wines from tiny (one only 1.5 acres) oldvine, hard-to-work sites, as well as a traditional single village wine called ‘Corriente’, in honor of an old tradition of making a simple, communal wine for all in the village to drink throughout the year.

These wines are special, and we are proud to represent them!