Exopto - Giannikos Winery

Bodegas de Exopto is a project by the Frenchman Tom Puyaubert. The Bordeaux rugby player came to the Rioja in 2000. There he headed the branch for the French barrel manufacturer Saury. This brought him into contact with many Spanish winemakers. In 2003 he founded his own bodega Exopto in the picturesque wine village of Laguardia. Puyaubert's goal from the beginning was to grow only native grapes (tempranillo, garnacha and graciano). He wanted to re-interpret the Spanish terroir of the Rioja. The winery has a total of 10 hectares in the Rioja Baja and Rioja Alta. The tempranillo grapes are in an Atlantic climate. The graciano and garnacha in the Rioja Baja grow in a somewhat more Mediterranean climate.

Their first wine, Horizonte de Exopto, immediately hit the wine world, +90 odds from just about every wine critic in the world, winner of the prestigious Bacchus de Oro (only two Rioja wines received this honor). An important reason for this is of course that these men do this as a hobby, so quality takes precedence over profit and quantity is not important. Only the best grapes are eligible for the production of the wines. The disadvantage that this entails is that the wine is only available to a limited extent. Later it also came on the market for the Exopto. On average only about 3000 bottles are sold worldwide !!! The Exoptot comes from the oldest vines in Rioja, all at least 65 years old, are completely hand-picked and checked to come to this wine. The aesthetically beautiful bottle again emphasizes the exclusivity of this wine.