Cortijo Rosado is a beautiful example of an estate-bottled dry rosé from Rioja. It combines the Tempranillo grape’s body with the Garnacha’s bright acidity. Rioja is Spain’s most prestigious region and for younger or neophyte wine drinkers who want to learn more about this magical, storybook wine region, its grapes and its wines, and enjoy an uncommonly good rosé, there’s no better an introduction than Cortijo Rosado. Cortijo means ‘cottage’ or ‘shack,’ a reference by the emerging young winemaker David Sampedro that his shack makes better wine than most high-flown Chateaux in Rioja. David improves the quality of his wines by doing better work in his vineyards, the place where the grapes come from. David says, “If you want to make better wine, harvest better grapes.” Rather than build a chateau or a beautiful tasting room, he’d rather pay to take care of the only meaningful ingredient, the grapes. Beginning with the 2009 vintage, Cortijo is made with estate grapes. Called el Bull (‘the bull’) by his Spanish friends, David is a complete artist who knows Rioja and his grapes as few other people do.