Bodegas Exopto Horizonte de Exopto, Rioja DOCa, Spain

艾歐普托酒莊地平線紅葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：5407

A traditional red blend of 80% Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, the 2020 Horizonte de Exopto combines grapes from ábalos and, since 2016, also San Vicente de la Sonsierra, as he cannot produce village wines from there as his winery is in Laguardia! This year he also added the new plots from Ba?os de Ebro that represent 15% of the blend and which he feels add fresh red fruit notes and silky tannins. It showcases the Sonsierra zone with fresher Tempranillo with balance, length and the chalky sensation from the limestone soils. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts and matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques for 12 months. It follows the path of the 2019 with a little more freshness. 12,000 bottles were filled in November 2021.

The Sonsierra red 2018 Horizonte de Exopto combines grapes from ábalos and San Vicente de la Sonsierra and is a traditional blend of Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques for one year. There is a lot of depth and nuance here: there is fruit, ripe without excess, spice, aromatic herbs and a touch of licorice and earth. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals great balance, powerful but elegant, quite classical and with all that it needs to develop nicely in bottle in this cooler year. 12,000 bottles were filled in November 2019.

The red 2017 Horizonte de Exopto is a traditional blend of Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, but now not all of grapes come from the village of ábalos—since 2016, they have added two plots in San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The destemmed and lightly crushed grapes fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques for one year. The wine is surprisingly fresh, expressive and aromatic and has a touch of black pepper, perhaps because there are more grapes from higher-altitude vineyards that didn't suffer the frost, and the result might be fresher than some wines from 2016 or 2015. The move to bigger barrels and less oak seems to have paid back with much better integration of the wood and additional nuance. A great effort for the vintage and a bit of a surprise—lighter and less concentrated but more drinkable. 9,000 bottles were filled in November 2018.

The red 2015 Horizonte de Exopto is a traditional blend of Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano, all from the village of ábalos, including the Garnacha that previously was sourced from Rioja Baja. The aim is to show the character of the Sonsierra with freshness, balance, elegance and length provided by the limestone soils. It fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, with destemmed and lightly crushed grapes, and a post-fermentation maceration of one week. It matured 50/50 in 600-liter demi-muids and 225-liter barriques, 20% of them new, for 12 months. It's very perfumed, expressive, open, long and complete, with good ripeness but without any excess. There is good definition, with fine tannins on the palate and better-integrated oak than some years ago. This is sourced from the same vineyards as the white, which is why the wines share the same name. 10,000 bottles were filled in November 2016.

There is also a red 2014 Horizonte de Exopto, in this case mostly Tempranillo with 10% each Garnacha and Graciano. It is a blend of a dozen plots of old vines, since this vintage is exclusively from the village of ábalos in Rioja Alta, close to Haro (the Garnacha before was from Rioja Baja), which is a cooler terroir. It fermented in cement vats with a short post-fermentative maceration (one week). Half of the wine fermented in 600-liter demi-muids and the rest in barriques for one year. This is a lot more austere, from a cool vintage, a cool terroir and mostly Tempranillo from the classical Haro zone, with slower oxygenation and less tannins, as they used larger barrels. So the wine comes through as serious, still a little marked by the aging in oak with a spicy character. The palate is very balanced, with sophisticated tannins and great balance. There is a sense of harmony and elegance that I like very much. This could be the prototype of serious, straight wine from Haro. Classical or modern? This is just great Rioja. 10,000 bottles were produced and filled in December 2015.