Oxer Wines Tartalo 2022

Oxer Wines Tartalo 2022 is a limited-production red from Rioja Alavesa, Spain, created by winemaker Oxer Bastegieta. The name "Tartalo" refers to a cyclops from Basque mythology, symbolising a spiritual, ancestral world the producer seeks to evoke with this wine.

Its name comes from a cyclops of Basque mythology, from the 'old world', a spiritual, dreamlike world, through which Oxer wants to evoke that small spiritual world that has now been lost. On the label you see Tartalo rising defiantly from the lake like Excalibur, eyeing the flock of sheep that will be his food...

The Wine Advocate
RP 96+

Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

I was quite impressed with the 2022 Tartalo, which is aromatic, open, expressive, clean and very elegant; powerful and ripe but eminently elegant, with very fine tannins and a chalky feel on the finish. It's ripe without excess, with 14% alcohol, a pH of 3.49 and 5.8 grams of acidity. It comes from vineyards planted in 1920 at 600 metres above sea level on shallow limestone soils. It's 87% Tempranillo, 10% Viura and 3% Graciano from very low yields, fermented in 1,000-litre oak vats and matured in 600-litre French and Austrian oak barrels for 10 months. 1,300 bottles were produced. Bottled in September 2023.

Oxer Bastegieta has some of the most fascinating labels in Rioja, Spain, and the whole world! And the wines too, of course; otherwise I wouldn't be talking about his labels. He works with small plots of old vines and is planting new vineyards in Leza and San Vicente de la Sonsierra, a constant among new producers after recovering old plots. His portfolio is always changing, and he's releasing several new wines, including a white, all in small quantities, as he makes 30,000 bottles on average.

When I spoke to him, he was delighted with his 2022 wines and, despite the heat and lack of rain, he got the harvest date right (earlier), which preserved the acidity and pH, giving fine, elegant wines matured in used barrels with silky tannins.

Published: 29 February 2024