Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón are two Rioja winemakers at the center of an important renaissance. Much of Rioja is enjoying a return to the classic wines of the 1940s-1970s. Winemakers are turning their backs on the big, brawny, high octane wines of the 1990s and 2000s for a more elegant approach. Oscar and Eva –  alongside a cohort that includes folks like Sandra Brava and Telmo Rodriguez – are casting their gaze even further, to the 1870s. Rioja before the introduction of French winemakers from Bordeaux was a much different place. Vineyards were tiny, planted on steeper, rockier ground at high elevation, and aging vessels were uniformly neutral, whether concrete or well used oak barrels. This wine is an homage to the days when Rioja was hand made. Three quarters Tempranillo and the rest Garnacha, grown at elevation along the edges of the Obarenes mountains, the northwestern edge of the region closest to the sea. The scent offers bright black cherry and blackcurrant fruit, olives and pepper and Jamon Iberico, and a lilt of orange. The palate is more than medium bodied but soft textured, with gentle tannins and flavors of dusty clay, black fruits, underbrush and herbs.