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Amaren Winery Guide

Winery Overview

The concept of Bodegas Amaren is in honor of the wife of Luis Cañas and mother of Juan Luis, from Bodegas Luis Cañas. In 1995, Juan Luis Cañas explored the possibilities of making a new style of wine, contrasting with his traditional estate. This wine would express to the maximum the personality of Tempranillo, particularly from various parcels of old vines. Unfortunately, his mother, Angeles, passed away at this time, so he dedicated his new creation to his late mother, Amaren Reserva Tempranillo, in 1995. From here, the name Amaren came about, meaning “from the mother” in Euskadi. Juan Luis’s tribute to his mother continued with the creation of the winery, and in 2016, Bodegas Amaren was completed and located in Samaniego, Rioja Alavesa, with 65 hectares of old vines aged between 35 and 110 years old. The location, vines, terroir, microclimate, and vinification processes all play a key role in the craftsmanship of these select wines.

They proudly apply “rational viticulture,” a mix of organic and sustainable practices, with the utmost care to treat the land as naturally as possible. Healthy vines produce healthy wines, without a doubt. Further linking the story back to his mother, Juan Luis chooses to use concrete vats (typically used in Angeles days), protecting the wines from thermic variations and encouraging maximum fruit extraction.

Another glistening jewel in the Amaren crown is the presence of old Viura and Malvasia within the red varietal plots. From these, Juan Luis produces Amaren Barrel Fermented White, perfectly structured with excellent aromatic potential – a truly great white wine. Amaren is an idyllic mix of history and traditional methods complemented with modern technological improvements, producing magnificent fine wines in the utterly beautiful village of Samaniego. You can taste the individual varieties straight from the barrel, prepare the blend, and then compare how they fare from bottle aging. Amaren is new on the Rioja Alavesa map, but it is certainly one to be watched.

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Further Reading

Author

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James lawrence

With a passion for food & drink that verges on the obsessive, wine writer James Lawrence has traveled the world in search of the perfect tipple. To date, nothing has surpassed the 1952 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva, tasted in the cobweb-filled cellars with owner María José. Meanwhile, James has been writing for a wide variety of publications for over 12 years, including Telegraph, Decanter, Harpers, The Drinks Business, and Wine Business International. He lives in South Wales and returns to his former university city, Bilbao, as much as possible.

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