Pirate Radio Wines 'Clarete' 2024 750mL

SPAIN : RIOJA : RIOJA ALAVESA

BIODYNAMIC : Graciano, Malvasia

LIGHT-BODIED, WILD STRAWBERRY, POMEGRANATE, ORANGE PEEL, WHITE PEPPER, NO OAK

Clarete is what Rioja was before it decided to be a red-wine region. Red and white vines shared the same parcels, the whole harvest went into the open lagos together, and what came out was a pale wine the locals called ojo de gallo — rooster's eye. It is co-fermented and macerated on skins, which is the line between a clarete and a rosé bled off after a few hours.

Graciano and Malvasía are both Rioja footnotes. Graciano is a late-ripening corrective, usually blended into Tempranillo in single digits for acid and lift; Malvasía de Rioja is a post-phylloxera survivor that rarely gets more than a tenth of a white blend. Building an entire wine out of the two is the argument.

Farmed in Rioja Alavesa, on the Basque side of the Ebro, and certified Demeter biodynamic on top of EU organic — whole-farm certification, native yeast, capped sulfur, an annual audit. Serve it cold and treat it like a light red.

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