Bodegas Moraza Rioja "Las Terreros" (White) 2019

Bodegas Moraza is one of Rioja’s great reminders that this famous region existed long before glossy corporate reservas and aggressively polished supermarket “Rioja-style” wine took over half the planet. Based in Rioja Alavesa and run by the brilliantly uncompromising Moraza family, the winery focuses on organic farming, native yeasts and low-intervention winemaking that leans heavily into freshness, texture and proper vineyard character rather than just oak and extraction. In short: Rioja, but with its top button undone and significantly more personality.

The vineyards are centred around San Vicente de la Sonsierra, one of Rioja’s absolute sweet spots for old vine Tempranillo. The wines here feel vibrant and alive, often showing crunchy red fruit, herbs, flowers, spice and earthy mineral notes instead of the heavier vanilla-and-coconut oak bomb style people sometimes associate with traditional Rioja. There’s a slightly wild edge to some of the wines too, but always the good kind of rustic. More “old stone cellar and long lunch” than “someone forgot to clean the barrels.”

What makes Moraza especially exciting is how naturally everything seems to balance modern natural winemaking ideas with deep regional tradition. These aren’t wines chasing trends or trying to be weird for the sake of it. They simply taste incredibly honest and expressive. Even the labels and overall aesthetic feel wonderfully unfussy, quietly confident and completely uninterested in pretending to be luxury products designed by committee.

Rioja can sometimes feel a little overfamiliar as a category, but Moraza has become one of the producers helping remind drinkers just how thrilling, energetic and soulful the region can be when growers focus on vineyards first and marketing departments a distant second. Fresh, characterful and dangerously drinkable stuff.