Telmo Rodriguez 'LZ' Rioja 2024

LZ is a tribute to the winegrowers of Lanciego, a village in Rioja Alavesa, and the way they made wine in the 1920s. Telmo Rodriguez wanted to keep that memory alive. Not by recreating it exactly, but by honouring the spirit of it. Small concrete tanks, native yeasts, grapes from old vines that have been farmed organically. 

The vineyards sit between 500 and 700 metres, across six different parcels, on two types of soil. Some are shallow, stony, calcareous, with a silty texture, developed over sandstone. Others are on gentle slopes over marl, moderately deep, with a fine loamy texture. Tempranillo, Graciano, and Garnacha, hand-harvested in small crates and fermented with indigenous yeasts. Aged six to seven months in concrete.

The result is a Rioja that feels old and new at the same time. Fresh, vibrant, with lots of red fruit, a little spice, a mineral backbone from those limestone soils. It's not trying to be a big, oaky Reserva, and we love that.