Robert Parker, 91 pts
“I love the 2018 Corriente, the entry-level in Rioja (even if they made me taste it after Las Beatas!). It was produced with grapes from different altitudes and soils around Lanciego and fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. It matured in barriques and foudres for close to a year. It has a very expressive nose with great purity and definition, marking the character of what the 2018s from the single vineyards are going to be like.”
The Winery
Vinos Telmo Rodriguez was founded in 1994. Telmo - a self-professed “driving winemaker”- came to Rioja searching for the soul of the region, returning to the villages where a few special plots express themselves. Lanciego is a village in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria mountains, reflecting the contrasting contributions of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic influences. Native grape varieties, grown on the best soils and subject to the best viticulture are the philosophical tenets, allowing the wines to express their innate qualities thanks to simple, but scientifically-grounded winemaking