Bozeto de Exopto - Tinto, Rioja, Spain (2023)

TASTING NOTES

Deep red with a bright rim. Spicy cherry and black raspberry on the nose, with brisk mineral and floral overtones. Juicy and focused, offering sweet raspberry and blackberry flavours and snappy acidity. Impresses with precision rather than power, and finishes with juicy berry flavours and good persistence.

A blend of largely Garnacha (Yerga-Agudo) with Tempranillo (Abalos) and some Graciano (Yerga) all of which are naturally fermented and then aged for 6 months in concrete and 5,000L oak vats before being bottled.

Exopto is Latin for “to long for” or “to desire greatly” and it is the dream of Frenchman Tom Puyaubert and his family to endeavor to craft and assemble wines where the whole adds up to more than the sum of their parts. Tom relocated from France to Rioja in 2000 after falling in love with the region and working for the French cooperage Saury as its Spain representative.

When Tom began Exopto, he wanted to do a project that produced wines within this historical context of Rioja - combining both worlds in a unique way.  His idea is to remain true to the blending of the principle grape varieties and to do so from the best terroirs/villages for those varieties crossing sub-regions of Rioja. Each wine though, has a majority of a different principle grape – showcasing that variety specifically within the context of a blend. The viticulture and winemaking model is that of the “vigneron” days – small plots of vines in the extremes, wild yeast fermentation in concrete or old oak vats and then aging in a way to showcase the fruit, minerality and terroir not the wood or aged flavours that people often associate with Rioja.