TIM ATKIN MASTER OF WINE (URBINA RIOJA REPORT 2018)
Tim Atkin, is one of the best-known journalists and commentators in the world of wine. His resume o curriculum vitae is quite impressive. He is not only a Master of Wine, he has won over thirty prizes for his wine journalism and photography, has written for all the top specialist magazines (Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Imbibe) as well as popular publications like Jamie Magazine and is also the co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, one of the top wine competitions in the world.
Now days, Tim Atkin has his own website where he publishes very useful reports and articles. He will explain everything you need to know about what's happening in Rioja right now. He travels to Rioja every year for a period of three weeks (2018, 2017, and 2016), for winery visits and wine tastings, plus his three decades of experience in this Spain's most famous wine region. Whether you like your Rioja in the modern or traditional style, whether you like minerally whites or single vineyard reds, there's something for you here. There's also something for fine wine lovers these days. Discover what makes Rioja rock, learn about the changes in the region, meet the young guns and the old hands, etc.
This comprehensive, 126-page guide includes:
- The Ten Things You Need to Know about Rioja.
- Top wines of the year (by style).
- Winemakers of the year.
- Scores for nearly 900 wines.
- 550 tasting notes (including drinking windows) for wines scoring over 90 points.
- Tim Atkin classification of Rioja's best producers.
- Evocative photos of the region and its winemakers.
- Recommendations for restaurants and further reading.
- All this for £20, €23 or $28.
Bodegas Urbina is a family winery with four generations since 1870 dedicated to grape growing and winemaking. The present winery designed, built and run by the family Urbina since 1986 has been created solely to facilitate the mission of the winemaker at the time of producing fine wines. The winemaking for commercialization dates from 1870 and performed in ancient underground Cuzcurrita drafts.
Bodegas Urbina has 75 hectares of native varieties of Rioja, whose sole purpose is the quality of their wines. The wines are a combination of grapes from Cuzcurrita, the westernmost part of the DOC Rioja; It produces wines with great aging potential, fit for the Gran Reserva and Uruñuela vineyards located in the heart of the appellation produce wines of great consistency and body, very nice.
Bodegas Urbina has the capacity to produce 200.000 bottles of red Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva and 25.000 bottles of White and Rose grapes from their own vineyards, which are grown under traditional practices, not using herbicides and limiting use of pesticides and fungicides. The cultivation is done in low-trained (vignes basses) and trellis, and does not force the production, not exceeding the 4,500 Kgrs. / Ha. Within the production capacity, wines are selected in order to be labeled as Urbina.
2018 RIOJA SPECIAL REPORT
Rioja is beginning to fulfil its potential and that's great news for wine lovers. Spain's most famous region is increasingly exciting. Rioja is about to change how it classifies and promotes its wine. New grape varieties are being planted and old ones rediscovered. And pioneering wine-makers are bringing a fresh approach to what has always been an important but traditional wine-producing region.
This in-depth report covers Rioja’s top producers (big and small), great quality wines and good value wines, Riojas to drink and open later. Download the report for everything you need to know about what's happening in Rioja right now – based on three weeks of visits, further tastings in London, and more than three decades spent tasting and writing about the region’s wines. He has tasted 900 wines so you don't have to. He has also stuck my neck out (again) with his classification of the top producers, so you can drink and buy the best and most interesting wines from Rioja.