Bodegas Exopto El Espinal de Exopto 2020

Bodegas Exopto El Espinal de Exopto is made from a rare, almost extinct red variety grown on a 0.3-hectare plot high on the Sierra Cantabria.

El Espinal was the first label in Tom Puyaubert's Colección Miguel Ángel Mato, named for the grower who cultivates Exopto's principal vineyards by mule. Mato is a native of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and owns several old vineyards high on the slopes of the Sierra Cantabria, El Espinal among them; the name refers to the pines that have always stood on those exposed slopes. The site is limestone and clay, planted to bush vines of Maturana Tinta, a variety re-emerging in Rioja. The winemaking is unusual as well. Puyaubert uses vinification intégrale, fermenting in closed 600-litre French oak barrels that are rolled several times a day, with no pump-overs and no pigeage, so the wine is infused rather than extracted. After pressing, the juice returns to the same casks for fifteen months.

Picked a month after the estate's Ábalos fruit, it drinks well now and for a decade. Try it with grilled lamb, duck or mushrooms at 16°C.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.