2019 OXER BASTEGIETA "ARTILLERO" RIOJA

2019 OXER BASTEGIETA "ARTILLERO" RIOJA, SPAIN. 100% Tempranillo.

Production in Rioja is slightly below 10,000 bottles, although Oxer plans to make 20,000 bottles in the future. The fresh, almost electric red El Artillero (just under 2,000 bottles) is fermented in various vessels and is later aged in used casks. The cannon on the label was replaced by a more seductive image after Oxer learnt that El Artillero was one of the sexual positions described in the Kama Sutra. About: A new player in Rioja, Oxer Bastegieta is a Basque producer who divides his time between the family winery in the Bizkaiko Txakolina appellation and his highly personal wines in Rioja.

A seasoned traveller, Oxer got into wine in 1999 when his father asked him to make a txakoli to be served in the family restaurant in Kortezubi (Bizkaia) from a one-hectare plot he had planted nearby. Bastegieta discovered Rioja soon after, when he took a master's degree in Wine Growing and Oenology in Laguardia, in the heart of Rioja Alavesa. He was captivated by the striking landscape set against the imposing mountains of Sierra Cantabria and decided to move to this picturesque village in 2009.

The following year he bought his first vineyard. Called El Artillero (The Gunner), it is a very old plot located at 600m in Elvillar, also in Rioja Alavesa. Oxer currently grows 4.8 hectares divided in 16 plots in the villages of Leza, Navaridas, Elciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Laguardia and Elvillar. One of these plots in Laguardia was planted using a keyline design, a landscaping technique used in permaculture to optimize resources. It is here where he plans to build a winery in the future.

In his early forties, Bastegieta’s approach to wine is unconventional and personal and this is visible in his striking, unique wine labels. Taking inspiration from poems, songs and images, these labels are the result of working closely with the award-winning design agency Calcco from Logroño.