Viña Otano, Rioja (La Rioja, Spain) Maturana Tinta 2019 ($45, Grapes of Spain / Aurelio Cabestrero)

Get triple duty out of this wine: Provide a wine made from a novel grape variety as an experience for your adventuresome wine friends, or shame the know-it-all tasters in your circle, and finally—get a delicious wine on top of that. Maturana is a rarity, but the fruit behind this has a long pedigree, sourced from a single plot of vines (“Los Cuartos”) planted in 1947. Medium-bodied, it is marked by very bright acidity but does not come off as tart, with open and juicy fruit flavors easily balancing out both the acidity that arrives early and the tannins that check in late. Subtle floral aromas get this off to a great start, and the fruit flavors seem to me as much “blue” in tone as red or black, though shades of all three are evident. Amazingly fresh for a wine now five years off the vine, that doesn’t mean it isn’t ready to enjoy already—which it is, even though enjoying it with food will smooth out the acidity and tannins. Fascinating, fun, and obviously delicious…what more could you ask?
93 Michael Franz