Luis Alegre Crianza 2014 - Rioja Alavesa

Boasting a madcap building that looks like a spaceship has landed in the middle of the Rioja countryside, the Luis Alegre winery is an innovative set up that successfully contrasts the old with the new.

Though some of the vines are over 100 years old and the winery has been around for nearly 50 years, the winemaking techniques are as current as they come. With the Crianza, vintner Pablo Martinez has made a heavenly, approachable but depthy wine that further underlines his solid reputation.

Bodegas Luis Alegre was formed in 1968 by, unsurprisingly, Luis Alegre who was from a family of viticulturists with some of the best vines in the stunning village of Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa. The project cranked up into what it is nowadays in 2001 when a team of investors and wine exports took over the winery and built a state of the art, gravity-fed bodega with the best temperature controlled facility of its kind and an expert wine making team.

Designed by the celebrated Spanish architect Joaquín Aracil Bellod, it has four circular floors completely covered with granite. It also boasts a panoramic lift with a stunning view of the winery. The glass-walled upper floor has a restaurant with capacity for 60 diners, while a garden terrace enables the visitors to enjoy unbeatable views.

Pablo Martinez gained a degree in technical agriculture University of Rioja in 1995, followed by a degree in oenology at University of La Rioja in 1998. His winemaking philosophy is simple: to make the best possible wines with the grapes from its 100-year-old vines, in a modern style. This involves not always adhering to the traditional methods of La Rioja, whilst respecting the terroirs and indigenous varietals.

They use both new oak and oak that is up to three-years-old from America, France and Eastern Europe and they treat the barrels themselves. They will not necessarily call a wine Reserva if they think it should be considered in a different light.

The Crianza is an unoaked, fresh and clean red that expresses the dominant varietal, Tempranillo, with real clarity.