Alonso & Pedrajo Suañé Blanco Reserva 2020

Alonso & Pedrajo began in 2011 as a friendship between two families in Villalba de Rioja, at the foot of the Obarenes mountains in D.O.Ca. Rioja. Suañé Blanco Reserva is a blend of Viura and Sauvignon Blanc from clay-limestone soils, in a spot marked by a continental climate with Atlantic influences and clear shifts in temperature. Those cool nights and calcareous soils hold acidity and freshness even as the fruit ripens. The wine is aged 12 months in French oak barrels and four months in cement tanks. The oak allows slow oxygen exchange that builds texture and adds vanilla and a toasted, nutty character, while the neutral cement rounds the wine and preserves fruit purity. Ageing on its own lees adds further weight and a creamy note. The colour is bright lemon-gold. The nose shows white peach and citrus over vanilla, beeswax and toasted nuts. The palate is medium to full-bodied and textured, with ripe orchard and stone fruit, a fresh acid line from the limestone and altitude, and a long, savoury, gently oaked finish. Serve at around 10 to 12 degrees in a white wine glass. It suits richer fish, poultry and nutty cheeses.