Telmo Rodriguez
About Telmo Rodriguez
Telmo Rodriguez is a winemaker dedicated to terroir, and determined to display the quality and character of Rioja's complex, dynamic soils. The wines are matured in very cold cellars where they go through their fermentations at a snail's pace; allowing the full breadth of terroir expression to come into their own before bottling. A penchant for mineral on the level of the top level Priorat and Burgundy wines, Telmo rodriguez has hit the nail on the head with this modern, stylish Rioja; that Jancis Robinson has described as "incredibly fine... one of the most beautiful wines I have tasted in a long time." Surely they are bound to breath new life into a time-honoured region.
-
(6x75cl) 2011Wine Advocate (94+)
Following the exceptional 2010, the 2011 Altos de Lanzaga was the top of the range until Las Beatas arrived and stole the show. Still you should not overlook this exceptional cuvée from four plots of old, head-pruned vines in the village of Lanciego at 500-600 meters altitude, which are worked biodynamically. The wine fermented in 3,000-kilo oak vats with wild yeasts for 20 days and matured in 1,500 and 225-liter oak barrels for 18 months. It is a little reticent, very young and a little closed, subtle and a little shy. The palate shows very good flavors of red berries and flowers, plus a great balance between alcohol and acidity that give the wine length and persistence. 2,530 bottles produced.$345.00 -
$404.00 -
Wine Advocate (98)
The superb, complex and elegant 2020 Tabuérniga comes from a challenging year, as the vineyard was hit with hail. It fermented in open-top, 3,000-liter oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in 1,500-liter oak foudres for 14 to 16 months. The Tabuérniga terraces were the first to be harvested in 2020, from the sixth of October, and still the wine has a moderate 14% alcohol. It's elegant, expressive, clean, focused and balanced, combining power and elegance, with fine tannins and a long finish. 3,960 bottles were filled in April 2022. They have six hectares here, and they only produce this limited number of bottles.$531.00 -
(6x75cl) 2021Wine Advocate (98+)
The 2021 Tabuerniga follows its path of complexity and elegance with a faint iron-like side this year, with notes of blood and rusty nail, a little earthier. Winemaker Pablo Eguzkiza thought that could be because this year the wine has more Graciano. It's also a little lighter, a little more ethereal. The grapes were picked between the sixth and eighth of October, and they were very healthy. They used a small portion of full clusters, maybe 5%, fermented in 3,000-liter open-top oak vats and matured in 1,500-liter oak foudres for 14 to 16 months. It has the harmony, balance and freshness with the elegant and seamless tannins from 2021. 2021 delivered good yields, and that might have provided finer-boned wines, a little in the style of 2016. This is superb. 3,812 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2023.$463.00 -
(6x50cl) 2019Wine Advocate (94)
The 2019 Molino Real has a slightly darker color than the 2018 along with a more developed nose and a riper profile, with spicy notes, a little nutty and more advanced. This comes in a darker bottle, like all the wines up to and including the 2014 vintage, because during COVID they couldn't get the transparent bottles they started using in 2015.$326.00 -
(12x75cl) 2022$266.00 -
Wine Advocate (97)
The 2018 Matallana is the only wine they produced in Ribera del Duero, a traditional blend of Tempranillo with approximately 15% other varieties —Valenciano (Bobal), Navarro (Garnacha) and white Albillo—from different soils in five different villages, Sotillo de la Ribera, Roa, Fuentecén, Fuentemolinos and Pardilla. It fermented in oak and stainless steel vats with indigenous yeasts and matured for 14 months in French oak barrels of different ages. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.68. The wine is subtle, harmonious and elegant, complex and with integrated oak, very expressive with velvety tannins and a long, dry, chalky finish. This is superb, elegant but with the Duero rusticity and stone minerality. It has to be the finest Matallana to date. 22,020 bottles produced. It was bottled in May and June 2020. They skipped the 2017 of this wine as the year was decimated by killer frost.$495.00 -
James Suckling (94)
Fresh blackberries, tangy spices and hints of graphite and oyster shell on the nose, following through to a full-bodied, juicy palate, with fine-grained, chalky tannins that dissipate into the center-palate before a long, tangy finish. Drinkable now, but best after 2024.$695.00 -
Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (97)
Plum ruby red, nuanced and subtle with an emphasis on fragrance and lift, violet, peony, rose, finessed tannins, poise and intensity, raspberry and redcurrant fruit. Savoury, subtle, joyful. I love seeing what Telmo Rodriguez can do in Ribero del Duero, and so will you. He's been producing this wine since 1998, with the grapes from the northern area of Sotillo de la Ribera down to Pardilla in the south, 11 vineyards covering 21.5ha across five different villages. Native yeast fermentation.$288.00 -
Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98)
The talented Telmo Rodriguez is launching this wine onto the Place with its first vintage for the entirety of its production. The grapes are from a 3.8ha limestone-dominant plot within the family’s Remelluri estate, found in the foothills of the Sierra de Tolono mountains. A sweet and smoky attack, with a ton of flavours and fragrant aromatics that grab hold and hang on, from dense liquorice root to crushed stones to blueberry, redcurrant, rose petals and tobacco, nothing too much or too overwhelming, but you also feel the herb-strewn call of the vineyard and you want to be there, among the vines where this is made. Get hold of it now, enjoy the brilliance of Telmo Rodriguez and the sense of place that he can bring to a wine. A field blend, as with the brilliant Remelluri Blanco, with just over 7,000 bottles in this inaugural vintage. An outstanding first outing that you should be following - believe me, this is a cult wine in the making.$352.00 -
James Suckling (100)
Such a deep yet complex and sophisticated nose, showing discretion, perfume and finesse. A hint of violet extract to the black cherries, crushed blueberries and cocoa powder aromas, together with Spanish cigars that slowly evolve to truffle, black pepper, incense and freshly chopped herbs. Juicy, yet really composed and dry, with medium to full body and abundant, immaculately fine-grained tannins that unwind evenly on the palate. A style that is restrainedly plush and refined, showing superb precision, cohesion and length, when you give it enough time in your glass. If Las Beatas is the fine Burgundy, then this would be Telmo Rodriguez’s Rioja answer to world-class Bordeaux. Decant it to let the complexity come through. Drink through the next 20 plus years.$354.00 -
Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (100)
I tasted this at the property from barrel, thrilled to follow it now in bottle. Grabs you from the first moments with its sage, thyme, dried flowers and incense aromatics, clings to your nostrils, drawing you in, so much depth of flavour to the vivid raspberry and sour cherry fruits, delicate and yet powerful. Hard to describe how little artifice is conveyed in the glass, it's not a wine that is coated in new oak, instead it is delicate, poised, crafted, utterly gorgeous, so moreish. Harvest October 6 to 18, 3.8ha, old gobelet vines, with any replacements coming from massal selction. Iconic winemaking partnership Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza. I hope everyone folllowed my advice from the first vintage to get on board because it is more than living up to its potential, and its tiny quatities means that first come are almost certainly first served.$376.00 -
Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (100)
I tasted this at the property from barrel, thrilled to follow it now in bottle. Grabs you from the first moments with its sage, thyme, dried flowers and incense aromatics, clings to your nostrils, drawing you in, so much depth of flavour to the vivid raspberry and sour cherry fruits, delicate and yet powerful. Hard to describe how little artifice is conveyed in the glass, it's not a wine that is coated in new oak, instead it is delicate, poised, crafted, utterly gorgeous, so moreish. Harvest October 6 to 18, 3.8ha, old gobelet vines, with any replacements coming from massal selction. Iconic winemaking partnership Telmo Rodriguez and Pablo Eguzkiza. I hope everyone folllowed my advice from the first vintage to get on board because it is more than living up to its potential, and its tiny quatities means that first come are almost certainly first served.$795.00 -
Wine Advocate (96+)
The nose of the 2020 Yjar developed very floral notes with time in the glass, making it very aromatic, expressive and elegant. This is completely different from the other two reds, as this comes from a specific plot. It reveals the finesse of the marl soils and the austerity of the stones. It was a year of sorting and discarding (they had hail) to achieve the consistency they look for in this wine. The different varieties co-planted in the vineyard fermented together (there's more Garnacha here) in open-top oak vats with indigenous yeasts. The wine matured in foudres and barrels of different sizes for approximately 30 months. It's elegant and clean, with a seamless palate, very fine tannins and a vibrant mouthfeel. 12,656 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2023.$329.00

