Valenciso Blanco 2024

Valenciso sources the fruit for this white from old vineyards around Villalba, Haro and Ollauri in Rioja Alta, farmed sustainably on clay and calcareous soils. The blend is roughly seventy percent Viura and thirty percent Garnacha Blanca, hand harvested from an area with a broadly Atlantic climate and warm summer temperatures. Viura brings citrus, structure and freshness, while Garnacha Blanca adds body and orchard fruit. The wine is aged nine months in oak barrels, where measured oxygen exchange and lees contact build texture and a savoury depth without heavy oak flavour, and the limestone soils feed a firm mineral line through the palate. It shows pale gold, with a nose of ripe apple, pear, citrus peel, toasted almond and a light spice. The palate is dry and textured, with orchard fruit and a nutty, mineral character running to a long, savoury finish. This is a restrained, gastronomic white Rioja rather than a fruit-driven style. Serve at 11 to 12 degrees in a white wine glass. Good with roast chicken, white fish in sauce and hard cheeses.