Artuke Rioja 2017

In 1991, after years of working their family-owned vineyards and caring for the vines, Miguel Blanco, with his wife Conchi, followed their passion and began to bottle their own wine. Over the years, their sons, Arturo and Kike, have become involved, taking on much of the Winery’s responsibilities. “Artuke” is a blended version of the brothers’ names.

The first 2 of their 5 different bottlings are “Vinos de Pueblo” or Village Wines and their intention is to characterize a village typicity by blending grapes sourced from each individual area. Artuke Red represents the fruit of Baños de Ebro, and the Pies Negroes is focused fruit from Abalos. They have 3 single vineyards as well, Finca de Los Locos, K4, and La Condenada....and are always seeking to acquire and restore old vineyards sites that have been abandoned and/or uncared for.

Following their belief in what their land can do, and knowing the quality of their fruit, the family has eschewed the Rioja classification system. This was a difficult decision, but they wanted to follow a more self-determining progression in elaborating the wine, rather than confine themselves to the timing and barrel aging regulations which would allow them DO Rioja status. In their minds this was a risk, but it was more important for them to express the fruit’s purity.