Artuke is a bodega in Rioja known for an approach entirely its own, one that has stepped away from the region's traditional blending and ageing. The name is a contraction of the names of the two brothers behind it, Arturo and Kike. They have given themselves over to capturing the essence of individual vineyards and villages, refining their craft year after year.
Their wines are celebrated for a purity and focus that speak for themselves — proof of just how accomplished the brothers have become. The De Miguel family's journey into wine began on a hillside affectionately known as Finca de los Locos, where their grandfather planted Tempranillo and Graciano. In the early days the wine was sold in bulk; then, in 1991, their father Roberto began bottling his own and selling it door to door.
Arturo took a master's degree in oenology and joined the family business in 2003; Kike followed in 2010. Their goal was to carry the estate's terroir-driven philosophy further still. They studied the soils of 32 parcels across Baños de Ebro, Ábalos and San Vicente and adopted organic, sustainable farming. They also turned their backs on the barrel ageing that Rioja's classification system demands, working with neutral oak so that the character of each parcel comes through undimmed.
The De Miguel brothers make three single-vineyard wines from old vines, alongside village wines blended from a careful selection of parcels, and they seek out old vineyards worth bringing back to life. Though the plots lie close to one another around the same villages, Artuke's 32 parcels differ in climate and in soil, and those subtle differences are written into the wines. Arturo and Kike are devoted to rendering every one of those nuances faithfully, so that each glass carries the essence of its terroir.