Bodegas Moraza Las Tasugueras 2020

Tempranillo Blanco. Didn't try that before did you? You should.

Classy food affair. Subtle pear, kiwi fruit, sweet-ish nose. Grassy, tropical with good acid and body. Somewhat mineral and pithy. Nice pineyness too.

The wine of Rioja is undergoing a renaissance. Quite an overdue one in the opinion of many. Where there is change, there is a leader. Brave, adventurous and resolute. Someone pushing the boundaries and showing that there can be respect of tradition and progress.

For six generations the Moraza family have grown grapes and produced wine in the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. But in 2011, Janire after time spent studying abroad and seeing the changes taking place in the industry, took over and pushed for change. She convinced her father and uncle to convert to organic farming. But also encouraged the family to express Rioja Alta terroir and their 23 hectares of native grape varieties (Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura, Graciano, Tempranillo Blanco) in a purer form. Do away with the influence of “international Rioja” styles and make with passion and love authentic Rioja.

They are based in the heart of the “Golden Mile” in Rioja Alta, high above the Ebro River (450-600m altitude) on soils mostly of clay and limestone. The cool, dry, and breezy climate is great for growing disease-free vines. They are typically the first to harvest in the village, opting for freshness. They have a winery designed and built in 1983 that allows gentle gravity handling (rather than pumps). And all the wine is made and rested in concrete rather than oak. All of this allows purer expression of the terroir and grapes, lower alcohol levels with less manipulation.