MacRobert & Canals

Logroño, Rioja, Spain

“This is one very interesting young project that deserves attention.”– Luis Gutierrez

There’s a quiet revolution happening in Rioja, the most famous wine region in Spain. A generation of young producers, some Spanish and some foreign, are carving out a niche for themselves in this land of tradition and asking, “What Is Rioja?” Bryan MacRoberts, originally from South Africa, is one such revolutionary.

Bryan first fell in love with wine in the Swaartland region of South Africa, where he learned to cultivate vineyards and make wine while studying enology and viticulture at the University of Stellenbosch. After spending four harvests working with Eben Sadie and Dominik Huber at Terroir Al Limit in Priorat, Bryan worked with Olivier Rivière in Rioja. While going back and forth between South Africa and Spain, Bryan met his wife, Clara Canals, a winemaker in her own right who is currently working at a well-known Rioja estate.

In 2013 Bryan’s father-in-law, Fernando Canals, joined him to create MacRobert & Canals. Together, they created a small family winery in Logroño, the capital of Rioja and the center of the Rioja DOC. This tiny property could fairly be called a garagsiste as Bryan has painstakingly converted a small, 300 square meter industrial building or Nave, into a state-of-the-art winemaking and cellarage facility. Bryan, like many other small-scale producers in the area, searches for overlooked parcels that were either deemed too difficult to work by the big producers or are simply too small to attract their interest. He has been fortunate enough to acquire 3.7 hectares of vines in Laguardia, Lanciego and Villabuena de Álava. He also purchases grapes from Laguardia, Villabuena de Alava, Leza, Najera, and Tudelilla.

Bryan, like other young Rioja producers, believes "Tradicion es Diversidad," meaning that it is the diversity of soil types and the varieties of climates in Rioja, a region that has elements of both Atlantic and Mediterranean conditions, that gives Rioja its tradition and history, not how long they are aged or what barrel type is being used. Bryan’s vineyards and vineyard sources vary from white limestone to red, iron-rich alluvial soils. His vineyards are often co-planted with ancient varietal mixes. All vineyards are working-organic or certified organic. Bryan does not make traditional Riserva and Crianza. Rather, he uses a variety of vessels (concrete, old barrels of varying sizes and even concrete eggs) to play with the reductive and oxidative potential of the grapes.

Bryan’s spirit of intrepid exploration comes through in his wines. The entry level La Nave line, has a nautical theme that is a play on the Spanish word for boat and for the name of his garage winery. The mid-range, monovarietal Laventura wines are named for a famous quote: “Quien no se aventura no ha ventura,” which basically means “nothing ventured nothing gained” and is also a nod to the adventure of establishing a new winery in Rioja. Bryan rounds out the lineup with three “Viñedo Singular” or single vineyard wines, that are each a reflection of a unique parcel in Rioja.

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MacRobert & Canals La Nave Rioja Blanco 2022

The La Nave Rioja Blanco is an homage to the long tradition of blended white wines in Rioja. 90% Viura and 10% Grenache Blanc from diverse small vineyard plots located throughout the region, including Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental (FKA Rioja Baja). The grapes were whole-bunch pressed and fermented naturally with indigenous yeasts in concrete. The wines spends 3 months on gross lees then is racked before spending another three months aging on fine lees.

The La Nave Blanco has a lemon green color with primary fruit aromas of apple, pear, peach and apricot. Some secondary aromas of brioche and biscuit are also present from aging on the lees in a cement tank for one year. The wine has a medium, soft palate with notes of flowers and almonds. It is dry on the finish with pleasant acidity.

12.0% Alc | 4.4 g/l acidity | 3.3 pH | 1.0 g/l RS | Wine Advocate: 91

MacRobert & Canals La Nave Rioja Tinto 2020

A blend of 35% Grenache. 35% Tempranillo and 30% Mazuelo. Naturally fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in concrete tanks for one year with no racking before bottling. The wine has a touch of reduction on the nose but then explodes with gobs of rich red fruits and a flinty minerality. The medium bodied palate is deeply satisfying with moderate tannins. This is a stunning value that punches far above its price point. The name “La Nave” refers both to the tiny cellar located in an industrial zone of Logroño and means “ship,” signifying the adventurous spirit of a foreigner Rioja.

13.5% Alc | 1.4 g/l RS | 5.5 g/l acidity | 3.6 pH | 90pts Wine Advocate

MacRobert & Canals Laventura Viura Rioja Blanco 2021

100% Viura from two villages, including five small, leased plots with some 80-year-old vines in Villabuena de Álava, and one plot of 60-year-old estate vines in Laguardia, where the old vines have both red and white grapes interplanted. All of the vineyards are organic and dry farmed. The vineyards in Alava are at 500 meters of elevation. The grapes were de-stemmed and pressed straight into 2,500-liter oak vat and 500-liter oak barrels, where the wine was fermented, racked off the gross lees and put back into vat, where it remained on the fine lees, with no battonage for one year.

This wine features a pretty, yellow lemon color, with primary fruit aromas of apple, pear, lime, and peach. Some secondary aromas are present from aging in large oak barrels on the lees. It has a medium palate, fresh acidity, and a persistent finish. This is a remarkable bottle of Viura and shows the potential of indigenous, monovarietal white wines in Rioja. Simply delicious!

MacRobert & Canals Laventura Malvasia Rioja Blanco 2021

100% Malvasia Riojana from old, dry-farmed vines planted on limestone soils at 650m of altitude outside the village of Leza, next to the Sierra Cantabria mountains near Laguardia. The grapes, picked at full maturity at the end of harvest, were de-stemmed and macerated for about four days in a 1200 kilo concrete egg, where the wine matured for one year, six months on the fine lees, before bottling. This wine has a golden color with floral notes and hints of orange peel, apricot, flint, and almonds. The palate is dry, clean, and textured with good acidity and balance. This is richer and more honeyed than the Viura but with a distinct salty finish that provides lovely textural contrast.

MacRobert & Canals Laventura Garnacha Rioja Tinto 2021

100% head-trained Garnacha from rocky, high-altitude vineyards in Tudelilla, located on the southeastern slope of the Sierra la Hez mountain range in the Rioja Oriental (FKA Rioja Baja), an area known for producing top Garnacha. The 60-year-old, dry farmed vines were de-stemmed and naturally fermented in concrete tanks before being racked into 600-liter demi-muid barrels for one year before bottling. This is a Garnacha at its best, balancing finesse and power. Delicate, floral, and expressive aromas lead to a fresh palate with bright, focused berry fruit and a supple texture.

MacRobert & Canals Cuatro Corros Rioja Clarete 2021

Cuatro Corros is a Clarete Rioja from four small plots, or “corros” located in Villabuena de Alava in the Rioja Alavesa region. These small vineyard plots, registered in 1939 and again in 1955 (but probably much older), were planted in a square planting pattern with narrow row spacing that predates mechanization with tractors. The old vineyards, consisting of bush vines on limestone-rich soils at 450 meters of altitude, are unique in that they were planted with a mix of different white and red varieties that were grafted in the vineyard with a massal selection of that era. The Cuatro Corros Clarete is a true field blend of 50% red varieties (Grenache, Tempranillo, Carignan, Graciano) and 50% white varieties (Viura, Malvasia, Grenache Blanc).

Whole bunches of grapes are foot-trodden for 3-4 days, then pressed off the skins into a combination of concrete and stainless-steel tanks to complete indigenous yeast fermentation. The wine is then racked into a large barrel for one year of aging before being bottled. This wine is declared as a red but made in the old process. The resulting wine is pale, fresh, and very expressive, with notes of raspberry, plum and blackberry on the nose. The palate is supple, fresh, and inviting with well-integrated acidity and tannins. This is an opportunity to taste a bit of history.

MacRobert & Canals Paraje de la Virgen Rioja 2021

Paraje de la Virgen is a single vineyard red wine from a 0.72 hectare plot of west facing old vines at 550 meters of altitude, planted in 1920, and located just outside the village of Lanciego in the Rioja Alavesa. “Paraje de la Virgen” simply means “place of the virgin” and refers to the geographical location of this ancient vineyard. The plot consists primarily of old, bush-trained, Tempranillo vines (approx. 80%) with small amounts of Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano, and Viura, all planted on white, sandy limestone soils typical of the zone.

The grapes were de-stemmed and fermented in concrete tanks for two weeks. After fermentation, the grapes were pressed and the wine was racked into large oak barrels, where the wine remained for one year before bottling. This is a delicious Rioja: brilliant red/blue in color with medium intensity, the nose features notes of red plum, tart cranberry and blueberry notes. The palate is medium bodied, with complex fruit and spice flavors and smooth tannins. Only 300 bottles produced.

MacRobert & Canals Barranco del San Gines Rioja Tinto 2021

Luis Gutierrez of The Wine Advocate writes that Barranco del San Ginés is a tiny “1.18-hectare plot in the village of Laguardia that was planted in 1935 [or at least registered that year] with an old selection of Tempranillo on small terraces on a slope at some 570 meters in altitude following the contour lines. The vineyard has been organically farmed for the last five [+] years, and it's full of life; it's a vineyard like the old Rioja used to be, intermixed with fruit trees and with small drystone walls, wells and very shallow, limestone-rich soils. There are not many vineyards like this left in Rioja, and MacRobert is doing a superb job here getting the vineyard back to life after many years of herbicides; he's working with a small tractor or a horse, as the vineyard was clearly planted to be worked with animals.”

This classic field blend of 80% Tempranillo with smaller amounts of Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura is classified as a "Viñedo Singular," the official single-vineyard category that allows them to include the village name on the label; in this case Laguardia, in the Rioja Alavesa.

The grapes are sorted, de-stemmed and fermented in small concrete tanks for two weeks with gentle pump-over once a day. After fermentation, the wine is transferred to one 600-liter barrel for a year of aging and natural clarification before bottling. The wine is aromatic and fresh, with notes of red cherries, raspberries and violets on the nose. On the palate, the wine features great balance and refined tannins with excellent freshness and length. Only 300 bottles produced.