Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated red wine region — a name synonymous with Tempranillo, with oak ageing, and with wines of a warmth, generosity, and complexity that have made it one of the great red wine appellations of the world. But not all Rioja is aged in oak — and the Joven style, which takes its name from the Spanish word for “young”, is a quite different and deeply appealing expression of what Tempranillo can be: unoaked, vibrant, and bursting with the pure, unmediated fruit character of the grape, without the vanilla, spice, and structure that oak ageing imparts. It is Rioja at its most immediate and joyful — a wine made to be opened and enjoyed rather than cellared and contemplated, and one that showcases the natural freshness and fruit purity of Tempranillo in a way that the more celebrated Crianza and Reserva styles, for all their complexity, cannot quite replicate. Bodegas Ugalde Muerza is a dedicated Rioja producer with a deep understanding of the Tempranillo grape and the Joven style, making wines of real character and freshness that are as honest and unpretentious as they are genuinely pleasurable. The 2023 is a pure, fruity, vibrant Joven of real charm: plum and blueberry on the nose and palate, with a depth of flavour and a freshness that speaks of the quality of the fruit and the wisdom of leaving it unoaked. Vegan and vegetarian friendly. At £12.99, it is Rioja at its most pure, most vibrant, and most completely itself — the perfect bottle for a Tuesday night. Or any night.