Sierra Cantabria Organza 2023

Organza is the white Rioja of Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, a small member of the Eguren family group that also owns Teso la Monja in Toro. It follows the classic regional recipe, leading with Viura and rounded out by Malvasía and Garnacha Blanca, from the family's own vineyards at San Vicente de la Sonsierra in the cooler Rioja Alavesa foothills. The soils here are chalky clay, which retains water through the dry summer and lends white Rioja its structure. The wine spends nine months in oak, and the barrel does two things: it allows a slow oxygen exchange that builds texture and stability, and the extended contact with the fine lees adds a creamy weight and a nutty, savoury layer while the Malvasía contributes floral aromatics. The wine is bright gold. The nose combines white peach and pear with almond, beeswax and a measured vanilla and toast from the wood. The palate is dry and rounded, the oak texture broadening a firm citrus core through to a long, faintly nutty finish. This is a white built to develop in bottle. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees in a full glass.