MacRobert & Canals: South Africa’s Contribution to Rioja
Originally from South Africa’s Swartland region, where he still makes wine, Bryan MacRobert is winemaker and owner (with Fernando Canals) of MacRobert & Canals in Rioja. We recently visited him at his winery in a Logroño business park to taste his terroir-driven wines. Our reviews are given below and can also be found in our soon-to-be-released report on Rioja wine. Watch for it on our home page. Bryan is just one of the many young winemakers transforming Rioja wine.
Bryan studied winemaking at Stellenbosch University and worked with Eben Sadie, one of South Africa’s preeminent winemakers, who until recently also made wine in Priorat. Bryan strongly supports the terroir-driven wine movement in Rioja. His winemaking philosophy is minimum intervention and subtle oaking using larger format barrels. For his skin contact whites he uses a Nomblot egg. He makes several single varietal wines from dry-farmed bush vines; these are marketed under the Laventura label. He also makes several single vineyard wines, including two Viñedo Singulares, Rioja’s designation for special, old vineyards.
The US importer is K&L Wine Merchants.
The Wines
MacRobert & Canals 2021 Laventura Malvasia Rioja (Alavesa) 91 Medium yellow gold, showing aromas of honey and ripe lemon. Nice fatness on the palate from the lees treatment and good acidity. Appealing flavors of citrus, orange zest, and almond with a stone fruit accent. Sourced from a single vineyard planted in 1955 in Leza and given 2 days skin contact; fermented and aged in concrete egg for one year. 13% alc. MacRobert & Canals Laventura 2021 Laventura Viura Rioja (Alavesa) 93 Notes of acacia and chamomile show on the nose. Nicely balanced on a medium bodied palate with melon and citrus flavors. Bryan says the wine will develop in bottle, getting fatter and with richer flavors of pear and stone fruit. Sourced from dry farmed old vines in Laguardia; fermented and aged in 25 hl foundre where it stays on the lees for 12 months without stirring. 12.5% alc. MacRobert & Canals 2021 Laventura Garnacha Rioja (Oriental) 92 Medium ruby red. Lively scents of red berries, red cherry and a hint of rose petals that are mirrored on the palate. Lovely purity of fruit. Sourced from a 60-year-old, 600m high vineyard of red soils in Tudelilla; fermented in concrete and aged in large oak barrels. 14.5% alc. MacRobert & Canals 2018 Laventura Tempranillo Rioja (Alavesa) 91 Medium dark red with dark cherry and plum aromas with a hint of toasty oak. Good concentration of fresh, sweet fruit on the palate with impressive depth and still firm tannins. Sourced from a 520m high vineyard in Laguardia that Bryan purchased in 2016. Aged in 500L American oak for one year. 13.5% alc.
MacRobert & Canals 2020 La Nave Blanco Rioja (Alavesa) 91 Medium yellow straw revealing acacia and tropical fruit notes on the nose. Nicely balanced and full-bodied melon and tropical flavors on a fresh, leesy palate. A blend of 65% Viura and 35% Garnacha Blanca mostly sourced from the limestone soils of Abalos. Fermented and aged 6 months in concrete with lees stirring. pH 3.5, 13% alc. MacRobert & Canals 2020 La Nave Tinto Rioja 90 This traditional blend sourced from different parts of Rioja is medium ruby red in color and showed some reduction on the nose that dissipated with time. The nicely balanced palate reveals fresh red berry fruit and round tannins. A blend of 35% Garnacha, 35% Tempranillo and 30% Carignan sourced from different parts of Rioja matured 11 months in concrete. 13.5% alc.
MacRobert & Canals 2021 Cuatro Corros Rioja (Alavesa) 95 Pale red color. A field blend of half white (Viura, Malvasia, Garnacha Blanca) and half red (Garnacha, Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano) that reveals red berries, currants, and cranberry on the nose and palate. Although light in color, the flavor is intense, and the tannins are silky with a long, extracted finish. Sourced from four small plots planted to bush vines between 1939 and 1955 in Villabuena de Alava totaling 1/3 acre; fermented with ambient yeasts and aged one year in a large oak barrel. 13.5% alc. MacRobert & Canals 2021 Barranco del San Ginés Viñedo Singular Rioja (Alavesa) Vino de Laguardia 94 Dark ruby red. Pomegranate, plum and boysenberry show on the nose. The palate is firm and full bodied, almost chewy in texture, with very concentrated fruit; on the finish, it has excellent persistence and firm tannins. A blend of 80% Tempranillo and 5% each of Graciano, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Viura sourced from a one hectare, bush vine vineyard planted in 1935 in Laguardia. Fermented in concrete and matured in barrel for over a year. 14.5% alc. MacRobert & Canals 2021 Paraje de la Virgen Viñedo Singular Rioja (Alavesa) Vino de Lanciego 94 Medium dark ruby with a purple edge. This Tempranillo blend has a rich red nose of plum, raspberry, and boysenberry. Savory, dense and complex on a suave palate, finishing long and rich with firm tannins. A blend of 80% Tempranillo, 5% Garnacha, 5% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, and 5% Viura bush vines sourced from a parcel planted in 1920 in Lanciego. The 100-year-old bush vines produces low yields of very small grapes that are almost too concentrated, according to Bryan, so he removes weeds and gives the vines lots of organic manure. Destemmed, fermented with ambient yeasts, and aged one year in oak. 14.5% alc.
