Olivier Riviere Trotamundos Blanco 2020

Trotamundos Blanco comes from Olivier Rivière, a French oenologist trained in Bordeaux who came to Logroño to work with Telmo Rodríguez and later with Domaine Leroy in Burgundy before setting up his own project in the D.O.Ca. Rioja. This white blends Garnacha Blanca and the local Maturana Blanca, farmed by respectful agriculture. Rioja's calcareous and clay soils at altitude give the wine its structure and freshness, while cool nights hold acidity through ripening. The wine spends eighteen months in 500-litre French oak barrels, a large format that limits the ratio of wood to wine and favours slow oxygen exchange and lees development over overt oak flavour, building a broad, savoury and nutty texture. The colour is deep gold. The nose shows ripe pear and apricot, with beeswax, honey and a toasted, hazelnut depth from the extended ageing. The palate is full bodied and textured at 13.5 percent, the fruit and oak-derived complexity held together by firm acidity and a long, saline, almond-tinged finish. Serve at 12 degrees in a large glass, decanting the younger bottles.