D.O./Region: La Rioja, Spain
Address: Camino de Rehoyos, s / n , 01340 ELCIEGO (Alava РEspa̱a)
Telephone: +34 945 60 60 10
Fax: +34 945 60 64 82
Email: luberri@luberri.com
Web: http://www.luberri.com/
Founded: 1992
Hectares of Vines: 35
Wine maker: Pablo Martínez
Total Production Liters: 68,000 liters
Grape Varieties Grown: 90 % Tempranillo, 6 % Viura y 4 % Cabernet Sauvignon
Wines Produced: Biga Crianza , Seis de Luberri, Luberri Cepas Viejas Monje Amestoy Reserva, Maceración Carbónica
Exporters in the UK and USA: [DeMasion Selections(USA)-> http://www.demaisonselections.com/luberri.html] Currently no importers in the UK

At the Salon de Gourmet, I had the opportunity to taste some of Luberri’s wines. Florentino Monje Amestoy, the owner, winemaker, and vine grower welcomed me to his stand after a formal introduction from a mutual contact. Being a relatively new winery, only releasing their first vintage in 1995, it was fun to see what type of wines I might find. Evidently, Florentino used to be the primary winemaker at the famous Rioja bodega, called Artadi, and from what I tasted; his wines are on their way to reaching the same level of quality. Concentrating on low yields by vinifiying all grapes plot by plot, they have set out to produce a modern style of wine that contain traces of Rioja’s past. One example of such a wine is their 6 month oak aged wine made from the Carbonic Maceration technique allows for the fruitiness of the style to be bolstered without being overwhelmed by the oak treatment. On the other hand, I was delighted and thrilled to taste some unreleased samples from their 2002 and 2003 vintages. Their Cepas Viejas and Monje Amestoy Reserva were wines that while modern, in the sense of being fruit driven and not dried out, both showed a nice underlying minerality with rich spice characteristics.

Try to seek out these wines as you explore some of the newer faces of Rioja!

Search for tasting notes by these producers here: Bodegas Luberri Tasting Notes