Gabaxo 2018 | Olivier Rivière | Rioja

Name: Gabaxo 2018 | Olivier Rivière | Rioja
Brand: Olivier Rivière
SKU: 314
Price: 20.75 EUR
Availability: InStock

20.75 €

Gabaxo 2018 | Olivier Rivière | Rioja

20.75 €

Quantity :

Olivier Rivière, DOCa Rioja. 40% Garnacha, 30% Graciano and 30% Tempranillo: the Garnacha comes from Cárdenas (Rioja Alta) and Rioja Oriental; the Tempranillo and Graciano from Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa).

Aged 11 months in used 500-litre French oak barrels and 3 months in used foudres. Unfiltered, unfined.

Wine Identification
Gabatxo is a red wine from the Olivier Rivière winery, released in the 2018 vintage. It carries the Rioja appellation designation and originates from Spain.

Origin and Winemaking
The wine is a blend of three grape varieties: Garnacha (40%), Graciano (30%), and Tempranillo (30%). The fruit sources are distinct, reflecting specific terroirs within the region. The Garnacha components are sourced from Cárdenas in Rioja Alta and areas in Rioja Oriental. The Tempranillo and Graciano grapes come from Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa.

Vinification involves no clarification or filtration processes, preserving the wine’s natural character. Aging is conducted in 500-liter used French oak barrels for eleven months, followed by an additional three months in used fudres. The resulting alcohol content is 13.5%. This particular vintage represents a shift from previous iterations, which relied on a 50/50 split of Garnacha and Tempranillo; the current formula introduces Graciano to broaden the aromatic and structural profile.

Expected Profile and Tasting Notes
Gabatxo 2018 presents a floral and elegant nose, characterized by its expressiveness and nuance. Despite the generally austere conditions of the 2018 growing season, the wine maintains significant freshness. On the palate, it offers fine tannins and a distinct spicy dimension, attributed to black peppercorn notes likely derived from the Graciano component. The texture is described as nicely balanced, precise, and mineral-driven. It concludes with a long finish, offering a serious structure that remains approachable in its youth.

Critical Reception
The wine has received strong recognition from major international critics:
The Wine Advocate (Parker): 93 points. The review notes the wine was "singing" upon tasting, highlighting its floral elegance and nuanced expression. He emphasizes its freshness, fine tannins, and mineral precision, calling it a serious wine that drinks well.
James Suckling: 93 points.

Overall Character
Gabatxo 2018 is a refined, structured Rioja that balances aromatic complexity with textural finesse. Its unique blend composition and unfiltered vinification result in a wine that is both precise and expressive, offering a compelling example of Olivier Rivière’s approach to the region.

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Gabaxo 2018 | Olivier Rivière | Rioja

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PARKER: 93

The 2018 Gabatxo was singing when I tasted it. Despite 2018 being a more austere year, this was floral and elegant, insinuating and nuanced, very expressive. This is different from the previous years when the wine was a 50/50 blend of Garnacha and Tempranillo. Now, there's less Tempranillo and more Garnacha, and Graciano comes into the picture. So, it's a blend of 40% Garnacha, 30% Graciano and 30% Tempranillo from different locations: Cárdenas and Rioja Baja for the Garnacha and Laguardia for the Tempranillo and Graciano. Alcohol is 13.5%, and there's very good freshness. It has fine tannins, and there's a very spicy side to it (black peppercorns from the Graciano?). It's nicely textured, long, precise, balanced and mineral. It's a serious wine that drinks well and has everything to develop nicely in bottle. Superb! 24,000 bottles were filled in January 2020. All wines now have a slightly longer élevage and are bottled a little later.

Learn more about Olivier Rivière

Olivier Rivière grew up in Cognac, studied oenology in Montagne-Saint-Émilion and learned biodynamic viticulture with Elian Da Ros, in Côtes-du-Marmandais, and at Domaine Leroy in Burgundy. He had a plan to buy vines in Fitou when, in 2004, Telmo Rodríguez offered him a move to Rioja to convert his vineyards to biodynamics. He accepted, and stayed.

In 2006 he started on his own. With no money to buy land in Rioja, he traded his vineyard work for access to grapes from good sites: a grower in Cárdenas, in the Alto Najerilla, and a rented plot of 1.2 hectares. Today he works owned and rented plots in all three zones of Rioja and in DO Arlanza, in Burgos, where he found high-altitude Tempranillo, some of it very old, interplanted with Garnacha and Albillo. All farmed biodynamically.

He ranks his wines the Burgundian way, by site, and dispenses with the crianza, reserva and gran reserva ladder. Ganko, his red from 40- to 80-year-old vines near Cárdenas at around 600 metres, owes its name to his Japanese importer: it means "stubborn". Gabaxo is gabacho, the local nickname for the French, which he put on the label himself.

Gabaxo brings together Tempranillo from Laguardia, Navaridas, Leza and Páganos with Garnacha from Aldeanueva de Ebro and Cárdenas. Part of the fruit goes in as whole clusters and the Aldeanueva fruit destemmed; it ages eleven months in used 500-litre barrels and three in foudres, unfined and unfiltered.

See all wines by Olivier Rivière →