Rioja Rayos Uva

Abordable: généreux et fruité

Cette cuvée déçoit rarement. Singulier, son caractère change selon les millésimes et offre toujours beaucoup de plaisir. En 2021, un été frais et peu ensoleillé a été suivi de pluies automnales qui ont précipité les vendanges dans la Rioja Oriental. Cela dit, aucun manque de maturité n’est apparent dans cet assemblage de tempranillo, grenache et graciano, tout au contraire, mais l’éclat et la fraîcheur sont au rendez-vous. Le nez, mûr et chaleureux, est très fruité avec des arômes de compote de fraise et de kirsch, auxquels s’ajoutent des notes de vieux cuir et de feuille de tabac. La bouche s’articule autour d’une matière mûre et fruitée qui enrobe le palais, portée par une acidité fraîche et de légers tanins, très fins. Un vin qui met l’accent sur le fruit et la buvabilité, mais marqué par la générosité méditerranéenne. Viandes braisées, grillades, légumes racines rôtis.

Olivier Rivière Rayos Uva Rioja 2021, [...] (13076071), 14%

Garde: de 1 à 2 ans

The very young unoaked red 2021 Rayos Uva looks for fruit-driven aromatics showcasing the approachability of Rioja Baja, where the wines can be juicy and tasty. It was produced with a blend of 40% each Garnacha and Tempranillo and 20% Graciano, quite different from the wines from the past, with 13.5% alcohol and good freshness and balance. It fermented destemmed and was kept in tank until bottling. It's very primary, a little reductive, young, fresh and juicy, with notes of berries and herbs and a light and fresh palate that makes it very pleasant and easy to drink. Volume has grown (to 130,000 bottles) and so has the quality! There are three or four bottlings from the same master blend.

Olivier Rivière produced 170,000 bottles, and in the 2022 harvest, he will pick a new plot of Garnacha in the village of Cárdenas for the first time since he planted in 2019. When I asked him about the latest vintages, he told me that he thought 2019 was an easy year in the vineyards with no diseases, uneventful weather, harvested à la carte when each plot was at its optimum moment. He likes the wines, which he finds balanced and with moderate alcohol that he compares with 2015 but with more complexity and with more acidity. 2020 was the most complicated year in the vegetative cycle with a very high pressure of mildew in spring; the summer was somewhat dry but the rains at the beginning of September helped to finish the maturation cycle. The reds are still completing the élevage, but it's a lighter vintage than 2019, very good also with lower yields. 2021 was a complicated year at first, with special care for powdery mildew, but then without problems in May, and there was a cold summer with little sun. There are two different harvests: the Rioja Baja harvest, where they had to harvest early due to rain, and the Rayos harvest, which was very easy, long and fruit driven. For the wines of Rioja Alta and Alavesa, he considers it a great vintage, from the people who waited for the perfect ripeness that took a long time to arrive. . . . He's reshaping the project in Rioja, refocusing to Cárdenas and selling the vineyards he had in Álava; 2020 will be the last vintages for Las Viñas de Eusebio, Losares and Pozo Alto. He is also starting a new winery in Bordeaux, in the Côtes de Bourg, an obscure zone with potential where he has purchased nine hectares of vineyards.