Botella Boutique Wine Cellar

Oxer Bastegieta

Spain - Bizkaiko Txakolina - Rioja

Oxer Bastegieta (Oxer Wines) is a Basque producer who divides his time between the family winery in the Bizkaiko Txakolina appellation and his highly personal wines in Rioja.

A seasoned traveller, Oxer got into wine in 1999 when his father asked him to make a txakoli to be served in the family restaurant in Kortezubi (Bizkaia) from a one-hectare plot he had planted nearby. Bastegieta discovered Rioja soon after, when he took a master's degree in Wine Growing and Oenology in Laguardia, in the heart of Rioja Alavesa. He was captivated by the striking landscape set against the imposing mountains of Sierra Cantabria and decided to move to this picturesque village in 2009.

The following year he bought his first vineyard. Called El Artillero, it is a very old plot located at 600m in Elvillar, also in Rioja Alavesa. Oxer currently grows 4.8 hectares divided in 16 plots in the villages of Leza, Navaridas, Elciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Laguardia and Elvillar. One of these plots in Laguardia was planted using a keyline design, a landscaping technique used in permaculture to optimize resources. It is here where he plans to build a winery in the future.

In his early forties, Bastegieta’s approach to wine is unconventional and personal and this is visible in his striking, unique wine labels. Taking inspiration from poems, songs and images, these labels are the result of working closely with the award-winning design agency Calcco from Logroño.