Ukan Rioja 2020

If Senderos de Ukan is the path, Ukan Rioja 2020 is the destination.

This is the flagship wine from Ukan, the bottle that most clearly shows what the Eguren family set out to do when they founded the estate in Villabuena de Álava: strip Rioja back t to strip Rioja back to its bones—vineyard, altitude, limestone—and rebuild it with precision, restraint and unmistakable character.

Drawn from old-vine Tempranillo parcels in Rioja Alavesa and handled with meticulous care, Ukan Rioja 2020 is deeper, more layered and more structured than its sibling, yet never heavy. The aromatics unfold gradually: dark cherry, blackberry and plum skin layered with violet, warm spice, graphite and a subtle echo of cocoa and cedar. On the palate, the wine is firm but supple, driven by fine-grained tannins and a core of freshness that keeps everything lifted and energetic.

Tim Atkin MW awarded it 95 points, praising the wine’s precision, balance and site expression, and placing it among the most compelling modern Riojas of the vintage. This is not Rioja chasing international polish; it is Rioja framed by detail and careful work in the vineyard and cellar.

What makes Ukan Rioja 2020 especially compelling is its clear sense of purpose. The Eguren family’s goal here is not scale or spectacle, but longevity—wines that age well, reward attention and belong at the table. This is Rioja made for serious food and time: roasted lamb, mushrooms, aged Manchego and long, unhurried meals.

Enjoy it now with a decant to highlight its youthful clarity, or cellar it confidently over the next decade and beyond. Either way, it stands as a modern Rioja benchmark, with one foot firmly in tradition and the other pointing toward where the region is headed next.

Critical acclaim:

"95 points. Deep violet-red to the eye, this wine has a bouquet of blackberry, dark chocolate and caramel. It is luscious on the palate, offering polished tannins wrapped around black cherry, mocha, anisette, violet and butterscotch flavors that wind down to a licorice-infused finish." – Wine Enthusiast

"95 points. The Eguren cousins are doing very exciting things at their urban Ukan winery, typified by the high quality of this pure Tempranillo from the three old-vine Laguardia parcels of El Estade, Valderromán and Zarzamochuelo. Subtle and stylish with nuanced oak, lively acidity, focused bramble and black cherry fruit and polished, textured tannins. 2024-30." – Tim Atkin