Olivier Riviere Ganko Rioja

What happens when you take a well trained French winemaker and place him in Spain’s most prestigious wine region? Magic. Olivier Rivière was born and raised in the southwestern French region of Cognac. Having studied oenology in Montagne St-Emilion, he plied and honed his skills in Bordeaux and Burgundy. His intention was to start making wine in the region of Fitou, but this plan was shelved following a trip to Spain. In 2004 he was brought to Rioja Alavesa by famed winemaker Telmo Rodriguez, who asked Oliver to help convert his vineyards to biodynamic farming. Smitten by the region, he never left. Today he either rents or owns 25 hectares of vines in Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental. Planted between 350 to 1000 meters in elevation, his oldest vines are over 90 years in age and include Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Garnacha, Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca. He hand harvests his fruit in 14-kilogram bunches to avoid blemishes, and manually sorts through the grapes at the winery within 30 minutes of them being picked. He whole-cluster ferments each variety separately using natural fermentation and ages the wines in a mixture of tanks, foudres and demi-muids. Taking a page from his previous experience, he grades his wines based on the Burgundian model (ie, regional wine, village wine, premier cru, and grand cru).

Ganko is a nickname for Olivier, which was given to him by his Japanese importer. It means “stubborn”, a reference to his unwavering resolve to do things his way. He considers this to be one of his premier cru wines. The blend consists of Garnacha (80%) and Mazuelo, hand harvested from 60 to 90 year old vines near the village of Cárdenas in Rioja Alta. The whole cluster fermentation was done with natural yeasts in concrete tanks. 16 to 18 months elevage took place in a combination of foudre and French oak demi-muids. Deep ruby in hue, this bold red wine has firm tannins and concentrated notes of black plum, damsom, wild blackberry, and licourice.