Diego Magaña is among a new generation of terroir-focused Spanish winemakers harnessing freshness and vitality from old-vine plots high up in Rioja Alavesa.
Working alongside his father Juan at the family’s bodega in Navarra since the mid-2000s, Diego launched his first solo project from the cellars of Bierzo superstar Raúl Pérez to critical acclaim in 2014.
In 2016, Diego realised a lifelong dream of working vineyards in Rioja Alavesa when he acquired 2.5ha of ancient bush vines at the foot of the Sierra Cantabria mountain range. He farms 4.5ha of Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha Maturana, Viura, and Malvasia by hand and with the aid of horses.
Vinified gently parcel-by-parcel, Diego’s wines are fermented with native yeasts in open-top vats. Forgoing Rioja’s traditional Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva oak-ageing categories, he believes that “the only recipe is that there is no recipe” and ages his wines as each vineyard and vintage dictates. Made in minuscule quantities, they offer sumptuous, floral-tinged fruit and fine chalky tannins, as well as enormous cellaring potential.
While still relatively unknown in the UK, Diego has rapidly ascended to Rioja’s upper echelons, joining the likes of José Gil and Artuke in pushing the potential of what can be achieved in the appellation.
