2007 Olivier Rivière Rioja Rayos Uva

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  3/10/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (RAYOS UVA Rioja) Pioneers Dear Friends, We take the word "pioneer" seriously and all three of the wines below represent the essence of the word in their respective regions. All three are examples I would gladly serve to dignitaries or to casual acquaintances and all are more than worth owning. They represent they new meaning of "value" in the European trade - where the very best wine of a property is $15 (not $50) and no expense was spared in time or effort to create it. You will hear a lot more about all three producers in the coming years but, due to limited quantities, I am sending them out in the same offer. While prices remain low...here you go (all three have just arrived): 2007 Rayos Uva Rioja (Olivier Riviere) Olivier Riviere produces this top-level wine that acts more like a dense Ribera than a Rioja but there's a major difference between what Riviere is doing and everyone else. This wine has amazing levels of extraction and minerality but still only has 12.5%-13.0% alcohol. It is full of both purple and red fruit with a shading of soil that screams for local cheese. This natural wine is 100% organically produced and it fails to disintegrate over nearly three days open in a cold cellar. The iron-rich backbone of the wine wraps a berry-filled delight that is never heavy but a blueprint for what can be done with ripe fruit in Rioja if done in a natural way. Alice Feiring: "Riviere Rioja Tinto Rayos Uva 2007. 12.5% alcohol (take THAT global warming) . A mix of Tempranillo and Garnacha, it is berry, bramble, blueberry, with a bit of compelling dirt and twig and grit. Great little wine." (the label on this wine is generic for multiple vintages - it says 13.5% alcohol but it is actually closer to 12.7%). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 2005 Manuela da Conceiì_o S. C. Coelho de Morais Soares "Touronio" (Douro) This dry red wine from Quinta de Tourais is the real deal. Made by a renegade twosome that vinify in old cement with nothing but gravity and their feet for aid, the wine speaks for itself and the bottle has already won numerous accolades for its artistic silkscreened whimsy (you will see what I mean upon first visual). The wine itself is brooding but refined in the best sense and the old-vine Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz, Sousao and Tinta Cao are full of rocky schist character and pungent, juice-laden fruit in the same sip. No oak is used on the Touronio and this wine can make a major difference in the natural wine movement in Portugal (especially after 4-6 hours of air). Think of this winery as the Breton of the Douro (with much riper fruit) and you will get the idea. Most of you know I disdain this phrase but...hurry on this one. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 2006 Pian dell'Orino "Piandorino" (Montalcino) This wine tastes like the soul that lives within. Two years ago, the 2006 Piandorino wine was one of my favorite personal discoveries in Tuscany (from barrel) and the bottled version has finally arrived. I realize this is more than $15 but the wine is divine. Pian dell'Orino, in a similar way to Le Ragnaie, is a new voice of Montalcino. They've had potential for years (right next to Biondi-Santi) but it's their stable of 2006's that will catapult them to the top level. Gone are the days of flash - people want subtlety mixed with substance. Oak slathered hot fermentations that obliterate the nuance and terroir can be made anywhere (Fanti) and this wine is the anti-showpiece. Maybe it took an outsider, a northerner from the Alto Adige, to bring strict methods of non-intervention but Caroline Pobitzer took the reins at this estate and she means business. The 2006 is from a great vintage - it has a silken textured that is heavenly. From a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot, this wine is like a rocky Nuits St George with a cashmere spine. Upon first encounter, the taster is pleasantly greeted with an abrupt smack in the face from velvet covered rocks and pure minerality in a translucent, watery looking package that is regal to say the least. This wine brims with class and incredible purity without forcing a thing upon you - it is medium bodied at best with nothing in your face. Awash in subtlety, the Piandorino gains great depth as the oxygen devours the low-sulpher extract. Those that enjoyed the Comte Peraldi wines of Corsica will adore this fabulous entrant. Along with the Corvitis, this is also one of the most impressive natural Italian wines I've tasted in a long time, certainly in the $20-25 range. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - all are LIMITED Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Spain8320 Port9700 Italy6930