Those with longer memories may remember this flamboyantly labelled Rioja from the time Planet of the Grapes was a shop in New Oxford Street. We loved the wine – traditional Riojas are hard to find at a reasonable price – but the importer moved back to Spain and that, we thought, was that. A few years ago, we found it again, at a Spanish wine fair, but Covid stymied our attempts to ship the wine. Finally, we have a pallet of Ramírez de la Piscina heading our way – almost a decade after we first discovered it!

The Ramírez de la Piscina family have been growing grapes and making wines in the towns of Ábalos and San Vicente de la Sonsierra for centuries. The two hill towns, which form an enclave of Rioja Alta north of the River Ebro, once marked the southern border of Christian Spain, and castles and fortifications are everywhere. The modern history of the family starts after the war with a bodega in Ábalos, later replaced by the current modern winery in San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The reason their wines aren’t better known internationally is that most of the production; mainly young wines, is sold in the Basque Country, and Crianzas, Reservas and Gran Reservas make up a small part of their production. Unlike wineries who age most of their wines in barrel, at Ramírez de la Piscina only the best fruit finds its way into the top wines, and it shows. Winemaking is staunchly traditional, and the wine is, in the best way, an old-fashioned Rioja Reserva, complete with an ancient label and a wire mesh, which is put on by hand!