Bodegas Bhilar Lágrimas de Bhilar Graciano 2023
An elegant yet powerful wine showing intensely aromatic notes of black pepper, thyme and plummy sloes with a hint of violets. Juicy, rounded and appealing with delicate spice, Graciano is rarely bottled as a monovarietal.
Vineyards have dominated the landscape of Elvillar for hundreds of years and consequently, this region is known for having some of the oldest vines in Rioja. Its poor soil conditions encourage the vines to penetrate their roots deep into the soils in search of nutrients, producing wines of wonderful complexity. These rocky, limestone soils are woven throughout three valleys running from the Sierra Cantabria Mountain to the River Ebro, giving Elvillar a distinct and diverse viticultural landscape. This village wine from Elvillar de Álava, is made from estate vines grown at high altitudes, where the grapes retain natural freshness. The low yielding, dry-farmed, bush vines are grown in calcareous clay soils. The vineyard is organically and biodynamically certified, and following a philosophy of low intervention the soils are ploughed by horse and the grapes are hand-harvested.
The Graciano grapes were fermented with indigenous yeasts in concrete vats. The wine was then matured in concrete vats for six months on the lees, which added gentle complexity.
| RRP | £17.95 |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Alcoholic strength | 14% |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Rioja |
| Subregion | Rioja Alavesa |
| Grapes | Graciano 100% |
| Residual sugar (g/l) | 1.5 |
| Body | C |
| Contains sulphites | Yes |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Milk | No |
| Eggs | No |
| Organic | Yes |
| Biodynamic | Yes |
| Closure | Nomacorc |
Bodegas Bhilar is a boutique winery located in Elvillar, Rioja Alavesa, run by husband-and-wife team, David Sampedro and Melanie Hickman. Together, they make terroir-driven wines with soul, while respecting the land and working with indigenous grapes.
For over 20 years the land has been cultivated organically, biodynamically for 15 of those and in 2014, horses replaced tractors in the vineyards. They have been Demeter certified since 2022. David Sampedro Gil grew up in the same vineyards he works today. While earning his masters in oenology, David started his career working in some of the larger wineries in Rioja. Realising that great wines are made in the vineyard, he returned to his vineyards and established Bhilar, reflecting his winemaking philosophy of making unique wines that evoke a sense of place, using sustainable agriculture and minimal intervention in the winery. Bhilar is the Basque name for his village, Elvillar. Their wines are full of personality and perfectly capture the characteristics of the cool-climate vineyards. In 2020, Tim Atkin MW awarded them Winemaker of the Year.
