Diego Magaña 'Anza' Rioja DOCa 2020

A young winemaker with an innovative spirit, Diego Magaña is also well situated in the world of Spanish wine. He comes from a winemaking background: His father, Juan, built an excellent reputation for Viña Magaña in Navarra. And Diego got his start with the help of Raúl Pérez in Bierzo. His ‘Anza’ project (named for his mother, Esperanza Tejero) comes from old-vine plots he acquired in the Alavesa sub-region of Rioja, an area relatively high in altitude known to produce wines with beautiful, taut acidity. Located in the villages of Kripan, Elvillar, and Laguardia, Diego’s vineyards are predominantly tempranillo—along with garnacha, graciano, mazuelo, viura and malvasia riojana—and his vines are generally over fifty years old. Each parcel is vinified separately with indigenous yeasts in open-top vats and aged for up to a year in used wooden vessels (ranging from 225L to 4000L) before being blended right before bottling. The resulting wine offers a fresh nose of ripe strawberries, violets, and crushed gravel that leads into a bold yet finessed palate of strawberries and blackberries, baking spices and leathery nuances.