The Estate

Artuke is a small winery located in Baños de Ebro, a village in Rioja Alavesa on the banks of the river. In 1991, Roberto de Miguel decided to move away from bulk wine production from the family-owned vineyards onto bottled wine. Now his children Arturo and Kike, whose names are the basis of the winery they now lead, are shaping this project, firmly rooted in its surroundings and landscape. Artuke is part of Rioja’n’Roll, a group of young producers who are committed to making singular wines which reflect their origins and terroir. Conscious of their heritage — they carried out a detailed study of the soils in their plots, located in Baños de Ebro, Ábalos, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and later in Samaniego — they fight to preserve it rather than transform it.

They do, however, advocate for Riojas to be bottled along regional, village and single vineyard lines similar to the Burgundian approach, and eschew the traditional Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva classifications that define quality according to time spent in barrel.

Viticulture and Vinification

The vineyards are farmed organically, with harvest conducted by hand, where grape selection first happens in the vineyard, and then subsequently at the sorting table before fermentation, which starts spontaneously by indigenous yeast. Fermentations take place in stainless steel and concrete tanks in a gentle, static style that avoids over-extraction. Depending on the Cuvée, the wines are aged in 500-litre, 600-litre, or 3,500-litre French oak foudres. Soft filtration is done prior to bottling.

Wines Produced

ARTUKE

Consisting of 95% Tempranillo and 5% Viura, this is a wine made using the carbonic maceration method. Great value wine to be enjoyed with immediate pleasure.

PIES NEGROS

A wine made from grapes from fifteen different plots in Abalos with 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano. Decanting recommended.

FINCA DE LOS LOCOS

80% Tempranillo and 20% Graciano. This wine is made in honour of Arturo and Kike’s paternal grandfather, who in the year 1950 bought a fallow plot of land in “Peñaescalera” in Baños de Ebro. Due to the way of thinking at that time, most neighbours in the village called him crazy, as he spent all his money on buying an unproductive plot of land located in a high part of Baños de Ebro, where no grapes were grown at the time. For this reason, and after many years evaluating the characteristics of the soil, climate, height above sea level and quality of the grapes, Artuke decided to make the “ARTUKE FINCA DE LOS LOCOS”, literally “vineyard of the crazy ones”.

PASO LAS MAÑAS

“Las Mañas” is a festival held on the 7 December in Spain. The main celebration of the festival is the burning of bunches of lavender to drive out the bad spirits from the village of Samaniego. This is a 100% Tempranillo wine, with 300 cases only produced per year.

EL ESCOLLADERO

This is a single-vineyard bottling from a plot in the village of Ábalos. It's a blend of 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano from vines planted in 1950 on classical clay and limestone soils at 600 meters in altitude. The uncrushed grapes fermented in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts, and the wine had an élevage of one year in 600-liter oak barrels. Around 1000 bottles produced each year.

LA CONDENADA

From vines of more than 100 years old. This wine takes its name from the abandoned state of the plot which is called “Camino del Ciego” in Baños de Ebro. The vineyard, at 530 meters in altitude on sandy and sandstone soils, had been abandoned to die three years before. Artuke rescued it from its death sentence, and after two years of care the grapes were of the right quality to make “La Condenada”. The 80% Tempranillo and 20% other varieties (Graciano, Garnacha and the white Palomino Fino) of uncrushed grapes are fermented with indigenous yeasts, and the wine matured in 600-liter oak barrels for 12 months.

Critical Praise

“I've seen brothers Arturo and Kike grow and improve tremendously in the last five years. They are now one of the most exciting vignerons of the region.”

Luis Gutiérrez, Robertparker.com

GENERAL INFORMATION

Country:  Spain

Region:  Rioja 

Appellation:  Baños de Ebro

Founded:  1913

Annual Production: 13,000 cases

Farming: Organic