Flor de Muga Blanco 2022

Flor de Muga Blanco comes from Muga, one of Rioja's best known estates, in D.O.Ca. Rioja in northern Spain. It blends Viura with Garnacha Blanca and the rare local Maturana Blanca, grown on the clay-limestone soils of the region, where a continental climate tempered by Atlantic and Mediterranean influences gives ripe fruit with firm acidity. The winemaking is deliberately layered: three months on the fine lees in concrete, which builds texture while adding no flavour, then six months in oak barrel, where slow oxygen exchange and the lees round the wine and add a light toast and vanilla, followed by eighteen months in bottle to knit it together. Ageing on the lees releases mannoproteins that give the wine its creamy, broad weight, while the modest oak keeps the fruit in the foreground. The colour is bright gold. The nose is fragrant, with white peach and pear over citrus, vanilla, hazelnut and a faint beeswax note. The palate is full and textured, the ripe fruit carried by a firm acidity through a long, saline and savoury finish. Serve at 11 to 13 degrees in a white wine glass. It suits richer fish, poultry and nutty cheeses.