Wine & Spirits - December 2021 - 22

yin-yang adventure the necessary balance and harmony.
In addition to making some of the most deeply flavorful
white wines in Rioja, they are planting only garnacha (and
some graciano) at high altitudes. They are propogating the
vines from cuttings sent by Sara Pérez in Priorat as well as
selections from their own vineyards, planning to use the
fruit from those cooler parcels to blend with their higheralcohol
lots, to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Phinca el Vedao is a garnacha that summarizes the concept
behind Bhilar's " vinos de finca. " The wine speaks of the
freshness of the vineyard, but it does not follow the latest
trend of light-colored, ethereal garnachas from Gredos,
in the hills above Madrid. It has muscle, (like Sampedro
himself, a former rugby player). The wine's dark fruit and
structure give Sampedro the confidence to age it for 30
months in used French 500-liter barrels, knowing that oak
is not necessarily what wine critics are praising these days.
Just east of Elvillar, in Lanciego, Roberto Oliván found
himself in the centuries-old Rioja battle between winegrowers
and wineries. He may seem like a free spirit, but he could
not afford to grow grapes at the price wineries were willing
to pay for them. So, Oliván decided to make his own wines.
He farms 30 parcels, a total of 25 acres in Lanciego and
Viñaspre, using only his own grapes for his wines.
Like other independent wine growers, one of his parttime
jobs is hunting for small parcels that cannot be
farmed by tractor, so the big wineries with substantial
financial backing have no interest in buying them.
I don't think it's wrong to say that Oliván is kind of
obsessive when it comes to caring for his vines. During
the pandemic, since there were no visitors coming. and
he was not traveling, Oliván was happy spending all of his
22
WINE & SPIR IT S
D E c E mb ER 2021
mELANIE HIcKmAN LEFT
HAWAII TO JOIN DAVID
SAmPEDRO IN HIS HOmETOWN
OF ELVILLAR, TO
FARm GARNAcHA IN
RIOJA ALAVESA, WHERE
THEY PRODUcE A RANGE
OF PHINcA WINES.
workday in the vineyards, where his vines seem to have
had a pedicure and manicure every week, looking as radiant
and healthy as they can be. " This is the only way I can
leave a great legacy, " he says, " for my kids. "
For all his hard work in the vineyard, in his cellar he
has found himself rejecting any of the tools or techniques
he believes would cover the purity and mask the origin of
his wines from his village. He produces 1,200 bottles of
El Abundillano, from a 2.5-acre parcel his mother owns
in Viñaspre. This is Atlantic-influenced garnacha, with a
beautiful floral and herbal scent that might divert you;
then, when you do go on to taste the wine, you'll find it's
light, but it walks firmly, making every step count with red
fruit at the precise point of ripeness. It defines Oliván's goal
of purity in his garnacha.
W
hen I arrIved In Sajazarra, croSSIng the
region from the eastern reaches of Alavesa to
western Rioja Alta, I told Oscar Alegre and Eva
Valgañón that I was coming from Lanciego. They looked
at me like I was crazy.
For me, it was no farther than my commute to work,
but distances have a different meaning here. I would happily
commute every day on that same road, surrounded
by vineyards and campanarios (bell towers) but only if I
could do it at 15 miles an hour.
Alegre himself is from eastern Rioja, what was then
called Rioja Baja, now Rioja Oriental; Valgañón is from
Rioja Alta. They met while studying in Italy and have since
formed the classic Rioja blend, through marriage. They
chose to settle in Sajazarra for its climate, the most Continental-or
Atlantic-weather conditions in Rioja. Climate
Wine & Spirits - December 2021

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