Telmo Rodriguez ‘Corriente’ 2014

Description

Long-term amigos and now business partners, Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza have been kicking wine goals together for nearly 30 years. They are up there with Espana’s finest new wave viticulturists and winemakers. They started working together in the late 1980s at Telmo’s family Rioja estate, Remelluri, and went on to become leaders in changing conceptions of Spanish wine during the post-Franco era (one of significant recovery and re-imagining).

Trained as winemakers at University of Bordeaux, with formative experience working for some of France’s finest (Clape, Chave and co..), Telmo and Pablo are among the most thoughtful of Spain’s post-industrial organic producers, deeply committed to authenticity.  Since the early 90s, they have attempted to move beyond the limits of 20th century practice; increasingly this involves deeply historical revisions. It would be a poor mistake to tag such cultural historians with any label such as ‘modern’.

La Compania started in 1992 with a modest Navarra Garnacha. That same year they bought their first parcel of land and set about exploring Spain with the intention to re-discover,re-interpret and re-invent. Over time, they found parcels to work all over Spain: however, there is no question that la Rioja is first among equals – here is Telmo and Pablo’s spiritual home and greatest commitment.

As well as Remelluri, they have three separate Rioja projects. By way of a handle, they use Telmo’s name for their wines, but are equals in every respect – beginning with intellect and passion.

At the beginning of last century “cosecheros” or growers from Rioja Alavesa produced a wine called “Rioja Corriente”: common wine, young but honest, for everyday drinking, leaving “Riojas Selectos” for special occasions. The idea of such a wine held great appeal to Telmo and Pablo, who now reproduce the style with bush vine fruit from “cosecheros” in the Lanciego village municipality (the same area in which they work for LZ, Lanzaga and Altos Lanzaga). Many of these are old vineyards with a natural mix of Garnacha, Graciano and even some white vines among the Tempranillo. Corriente is made in raw concrete and aged in a mixed regime of barrel and foudre for a year.

This is the true traditional, or better still, historical expression of Rioja.
Before the industrial combines turned ‘Rioja’ into a lake of placeless Reservas, etc, Riojas were beautiful, earthy and pure village expressions. This ripper is Telmo and Pablo organising just 6 growers at their village of Lantziego. It’s uttery gorgeous as well as truly, deeply authentic.
The cold clay soil of Lanciego speaks very clearly on the nose, partnered by equally typical ‘red heather’ smells of the locale (thyme, lavender and more). No fruit bomb, it’s a countryside wine, with meat, cherry, mint and licorice all in a swirl. It’s certainly a full bodied offering. There are hints of sweet spice and overall it has some freshness too. The palate opens with succulence, juicy and laden with red berries, then glides out and down into the mineral-flecked beauty of gravelly natural fruit tannin and closes out with perfectly judged astringency.

90 points, The Wine Advocate, Luis Gutierrez “This is a fine-tuned red with some time in cement, with some rusticity and character, mixing berries and hints of orange peel, just a pinch of spices. I think it achieves its goal and it even over-delivers for the price. ” 14% alc.

RRP $44