El Rumbero Oriol Artigas Do Allela 2021

El Rumbero Do Allela Oriol Artigas, light bodied Spanish Red, a blend of Syrah, Merlot, Garnatxa Negro and Sumoll. A great natural wine made biodynamically from carefully tended vines that grow on Mediterranean granite soils.  Artigas is building a heel of a reputation and his wines just get better.  Rumbero in the previous vintage had a tendency towards heavy funkiness and falling apart a little after 24 hours open, not this vintage.  Rumbero 21 is soft, fresh, with gorgeous wild fruits and precise acidity yet it is also somehow fleshy and moreish, lovely red with real personality.

This tiny 5 hectare estate is located 15 kilometers north Barcelona in one of Spain's smallest DOs (just 220ha). The proximity to the Mediterranean, granite soils called Sauló, and a plethora of native vines has inspired few growers to work and protect this area from extinction. Originally trained as a chemist, Oriol discovered a love for winemaking after working on a harvest in Penedes, before setting up his own venture and releasing his first vintage in 2011. His over-arching philosophy is to 'cultivate the vineyards in the most natural and least interventionist way possible, to allow the grapes to express in the most intense way the landscape from which it comes.' He plants according to the lunar cycle, uses natural fermentation, minimal sulphites and leaves his wines unfiltered and un-fined. The result is wines that are often rich in minerality, conjuring aromas that will take you all the way to the Mediterranean. A true vanguard of the natural wine movement, and the sort of winemaker we love to support.