NAKU 2025

Get to know: NAKU 2025

Exclusive to Reserve in the UK. A Rioja Alavesa red wine made in the fresh, youthful style of the region's traditional village wines.

Tasting Note

The superb winemaking team at NAKU have shared with us this bright, precise young Tempranillo. This is a red that's all about freshness and drinkability. Expect red cherry and wild strawberry, with a lively, almost floral lift and a fine, chalky thread from the limestone soils underneath. The tannins are soft, and the finish is fresh. There's enough verve that it's genuinely good with a slight chill, which isn't something you can say about most Rioja. Pour it generously and enjoy.

Top food pairings:

• Charcuterie boards or a simple plate of jamón
• Grilled chicken or lighter barbecue food
• Roasted vegetable traybake with olives

Kate Says

"We already loved UKAN's wines before NAKU came along. We'd invited Alejandro for the winery in for a staff dinner to show us his range, back when we only stocked UKAN and Senderos de UKAN. The lighter, more youthful style won us over straight away, and we knew it needed to be a by-the-glass special in our bars. We've since worked directly with UKAN through their UK importer to bring it in as a UK exclusive, pouring by the glass across all our venues from late July through August 2026. Pure, precise Rioja, and good with a slight chill"

Producer Info

UKAN Winery is a young project in Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa, led by Koldo Eguren, fifth generation of a well-known Rioja wine family. Koldo set out to apply generations of accumulated knowledge to single-vineyard grapes from key Cru villages, prioritising fruit quality and detailed winemaking over volume. NAKU draws on the young vineyards of the project, reinterpreting the traditional village-wine style with the same care that goes into UKAN's flagship bottlings.

How it's made:

• Varieties: 100% Tempranillo, from young vineyards across Laguardia, Elciego, Lapuebla de Labarca and Elvillar
• Hand-harvested into 15kg crates, with a significant part of the fruit vinified as whole bunches
• 48-hour cold maceration, then fermentation in concrete tanks, partly by traditional carbonic maceration
• Malolactic fermentation followed by six months' ageing in used French oak barriques and concrete vats

Good to know:

• Region: DOCa Rioja, Rioja Alavesa, Spain
• Style: Red, still, light-to-medium-bodied, can be served lightly chilled
• Closure: Cork
• Vegan: Yes
• ABV: 13%
• Vintage: 2025
• Availability: UK exclusive, by the glass in all our venues from late July through August 2026

Why we love it:

UKAN make three red wines: this, Senderos and UKAN itself. NAKU is the one to drink young and lightly chilled, no ceremony required. It's a young project doing something genuinely interesting with old village-wine traditions, and this is the easiest way in to experience their style.