Artuke Rioja 2022

All About Making The Greatest Wine Possible!
Totally Over Delivers For The Price!

Wow is this a great value, absolutely kicking big red value. These guys have got it going on in Rioja, taking a great red wine region and making the best possible wine, breaking down the way things are done. Artuke is a small family run winery in Rioja Alavesa on the banks of the Ebro river. Today the winery is run by brothers Arturo and Kike Miguel. The winery’s name “Artuke” is a blended version of the brothers’ names. Arturo Miguel is the winemaker and he has become an important and influential force in Rioja, the country’s most historically famous region. Not only for the world class wines he makes but for rejecting the confines of Rioja’s classification system. When we think of Rioja, we think of Crianza; Reserva and Gran Reserva classifications. Most growers in rioja sell their grapes to the big houses. Arturo decided to break these norms and rather focus on the best possible quality he could make. Very much like the Super Tuscans of Italy, these wines could be considered Super Riojas. It’s all about the making the best possible wine, period! Their focus is to capture the purest, most vivid expressions possible of the extraordinary terroirs they work, clustered around the towns of Baños de Ebro, Ábalos, San Vicente de Sonsierra and Samaniego, all north of the Ebro River. All wines come from calcareous sandstone (similar in structure and mineral makeup to sandstones from Barolo and Barbaresco). Today we have their Artuke Rioja 2022, at $15.99 and a huge 92pts by Parker’s WA. This is so tasty at this price point, offering remarkable value for money and a definite case buy!