Meet the Producer: Lindes de Remelluri: the future of Rioja. A Wine Tasting led by Pablo Rodriguez - February 6th

Rioja has lost its way. Discuss.

It could be a Master of Wine exam question but it is one that the Rodriguez family is addressing in real life.

Rioja is one of the world's most famous wine regions. But while other renowned regions, Burgundy for example, champion individual vineyards or villages, Rioja has largely lost sight of that and very many of its wines are cross regional blends (and IMHO over-oaked too), masking the variation in soil types and climate that occur across the region.

The Rodriguez family owns and runs one of Rioja's most iconic Bodegas, Remelluri, which dates back to the 14th Century, probably earlier, and is also one of the very few where the vineyards surround the winery and cellar, rather than being scattered around the wider area. Traditionally the bodega bought in grapes from growers in neighbouring villages which they blended into the estate wines. When Telmo took over managing the estate he put a stop to that but continued working with the growers in those villages and made and sold the wines separately under the Lindes de Remelluri label. Starting with just two wines, they are now up to six.

The Rodriguez family work closely with growers in each village to maintain old vineyards rather than abandoning them or replanting them with higher yielding, inferior clones, to farm in an environmentally sustainable way, and so produce the highest quality grapes which are then made into wines which truly express their origins and unique terroirs. 

GlouGlou is hosting an event on the 6th of February where we will taste all six Lindes wines side by side from a single vintage, plus two from Bodegas Remelluri's own vineyards. It is a rare opportunity to explore the region and history of Rioja, wine by wine, and we are excited to bring Pablo Rodriguez, Telmo's son, to Shrewsbury to present the tasting. Tickets are £42.50 each which includes eight wines and a selection of locally produced meats, cheeses and breads to accompany the wines. 

Telmo Rodriguez’s wines have always been ground-breaking; before returning to manage the family estate Telmo worked on other wine projects and few others have worked so widely across Spain, reviving abandoned vineyards, championing place over winemaking process, and producing wines which are admired by critics and sommeliers alike. Pablo is a wonderful communicator and a great ambassador for Rioja so anyone attending this tasting is in for a treat. An event that's not just for wine geeks, though they will be more than satisfied too!