The García family’s Rioja project goes from strength to strength under the watchful gaze of Tom Puyaubert. This is a co-fermentation of Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Viura from 14 small plots in Baños de Ebro. Wonderfully fine, detailed and perfumed, it has tangy bramble and black cherry fruit, filigree tannins and beautifully judged French oak.

2025-35

The red 2021 Baynos is a clean and modern blend of 90% Tempranillo, 7% Graciano and 3% Viura from their old vineyards. It has a moderate 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.5, reflecting a medium ripeness and a medium body, very good freshness and balance coupled with very elegant tannins. It fermented with a short maceration in concrete with indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels for 20 months. It’s elegant, nuanced and floral, with neatly integrated oak and spice and terrific balance and precision. It has the stuffing and balance between all the components to develop nicely in bottle. 11,833 bottles, 231 magnums and 20 double magnums produced. It was bottled in July 2023.

I tasted the impressive 2021s from the García family from Mauro in the Duero region in Rioja. They have eight hectares of vineyards from 40 to 100 years of age spread over 19 different plots and have an old winery in the village of Baños de Ebro. In 2021, they produced 15,000 bottles.

 Drink Date: 2025 – 2032

Bodegas Mauro, situated in Ribera del Duero, surprises with its approach to winemaking in Rioja. Contrary to expectations of pushing Tempranillo into riper conditions, the team here embraces a blend of ideas. The 2021 Baynos is a testament to this philosophy, crafted from 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano sourced from Baños de Ebro in Rioja Alavesa. Aged for 20 months in French oak barrels, this wine exhibits a purplish hue. It opens with inviting aromas of herbs and plums, complemented by nuances of caramel and wood over a balsamic layer. On the palate, it is dry, creamy and intense, with a fine, chalky texture and a lingering infusion-like mouthfeel. A note of black tea provides an interesting accent. Overall, the 2021 is a delightful and flavorful expression of Rioja.

Drinking window: 2024- 2040.

The red 2020 Baynos wants to be the expression of the soils of Baños de Ebro, where the soils are poor and rich in clay where they have small plots. For them, this wine is about aromatic depth and delicate red fruit with persistence, silky tannins, tension and freshness. It’s Tempranillo and Graciano with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.7 from organically and biodynamically farmed vineyards in the process of being certified organic. The destemmed and uncrushed grapes fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts, where it also underwent malolactic fermentation, and the wine was transferred to new and used 228-liter French oak barrels where it matured for 20 months. It’s surprisingly aromatic with notes of licorice, red fruit and flowers, with structure and finesse, a serious red with fresh and fine tannins, volume, concentration and very good freshness. Balance, finesse and power. 2020 was concentrated by mildew, so I look forward to the 2021 that I sampled from barrel and which had even more freshness. 12,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022.

A dozen different plots in Baños de Río Ebro, most of them close to Elciego, supply the fruit for this brilliant first release from Bodegas Mauro. Pairing Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Viura, it’s fresh, detailed and perfumed, with plum and black cherry fruit, very subtle oak, a twist of liquorice, filigree tannins and a fresh, chalky finish. 2024-32.

Frescura y finura en un tinto que transmite carácter de la Sonsierra. Aromas frutales y florales, toque mineral, crianza discreta. Cuerpo medio, fresco, vivo, con relieve, amplio.

Picota violáceo de capa alta. Nítido, aromático, apuntes a frambuesas, arándanos, moras, ahumados, mina de lápiz, tinta china, carbón vegetal, bosque umbrío, grano de café, cedro, etc. Sabroso, esqueleto muy bien armado, excelente frescura, equilibrado, amplio, carácter mineral. Perseverante final sápido que incita a beber.

Dicen que no hay dos sin tres, pues la familia García ya puede sumar cuatro. Y es que, Mariano García, junto a sus hijos Mauro y Eduardo, trasladan su sabiduría a la DOCa Rioja, exactamente a Baños de Ebro. De momento, con este tinto, de viñas viejas en vaso, viticultura ecológica y prácticas biodinámicas, crianza de 20 meses en barrica francesa y maloláctica en depósito de hormigón. Un vino made by García directo, intenso, con la personalidad de zona y viña, y una más que considerable crianza, siempre equilibrada con la fruta. De rica acidez y tanino presente, está armado con la tensión y mineralidad de un gran vino. Todo un “García”: expresividad, variedad, crianza y zona. Todo ello embotellado y etiquetado de manera sobria. Solo añadir: ¡qué ganas de probar su Viura!

Baynos uses grapes from six different parcels in Baños de Ebro, all over 50 years old.

The result is a complex, ethereal, haunting white blend of Viura with 5% Malvasía, showing scented French oak, aniseed and baking spice aromas, lots of zip and minerality and a palate of saffron and lemon zest.

2024-29

The 2021 Blanco de Viura Baynos is 100% Viura sourced from Baños de Ebro, Rioja Alavesa. Aged for up to 20 monts in oak barrels, this yellow wine presents oak and caramel aromas, accompanied by hints of honey, chamomile, aniseed and herbs. Layers fo candied peach and wax add complexity. Dry, taut and refreshing, the mildly creamy flow leads to a long-lasting, flavorful finish. This is a delightful expression of Viura in which well-balanced oak contributes significantly to the overall flavor profile, enhancing its complexity and character.

Drinking window: 2024-2032

I love the flinty and spicy nose of the white 2021 Baynos Blanco de Viura. It’s faintly reductive and has notes of toasted sesame seeds that give it a somehow Burgundian profile. The palate is super fresh and vibrant with an ethereal lightness, 12.5% alcohol and a pH of three. It fermented in 228-liter French oak barrels, where the wine matured for 20 months. It’s an update on the traditional style of whites with a long aging in oak. It should develop brilliantly in bottle. The vines are in the process of obtaining organic certification. 4,106 bottles and 90 magnums were filled in July 2023.

The white 2020 Baynos Blanco de Viura had an extended élevage with the idea to produce a vin de garde with complexity, balance and unctuosity. It was produced with Viura that is co-planted in the old vineyards with the red varieties in their plots in Baños de Ebro that are in the process of being certified organic and where they also work biodynamically but won’t seek certification. It fermented in new and used 228-liter French oak barrels with indigenous yeasts, where the wine matured for 20 months. It’s 13.5% alcohol and has a pH of 3.1. 2020 was a year of mildew, so yields were low and the wine is concentrated but kept very good freshness. It went through partial malolactic, and the wine has a spicy nose where the oak is still present. The wine is very expressive, aromatic and in the style of the aged whites rather than the fruit-driven, younger ones. It has a vibrant palate and clean flavors, pungent and with great balance. It looks like it will age nicely in bottle. I tasted a sample that was pending clarification, but save for that, the wine was ready. It feels very Riojan. 3,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2022.

As you’d expect, given the pedigree of the García family of Ribera del Duero fame, this is an impressive first release of old-vine Viura and 10% Malvasía Blanca from 11 parcels. Jasmine and aniseed aromas segue into a palate that has good structure, subtle spices, energetic acidity and layers of citrus, juniper and beeswax. 2024-30.