Bodegas y Vinedos Artazu
Founded in 1985 as a co-operative of 13 growers around the town of Laguardia, the Bodega came under the full control of founder member and winemaker Juan Carlos de Lacaille in the 1990’s. The 70 ha of vineyards are all on limestone soils in the Alavesa region and located at high altitude, leading to wines of great freshnesss and purity. This, allied to Juan Carlos’ sublime talents has led to the Artadi wines being sought throughout the world and now recognised as amongst the finest of the region. The wines are ‘modern’ in style, with no oxidative racking and only French oak barrels used. All the range, from the most humble to the grandest are labelled as simply ‘Rioja’, as Juan Carlos does not like to operate within the rigid ageing restrictions of the DOCG for crianza, reserva and gran reserva.