Valenciso Rioja Blanco 2021

Description

“If you asked me to name just one producer from Rioja that you should buy, it would be Valenciso … A small treasure in the great sea of Rioja.” Jesús Barquin one of the most influential wine critics in Spain who co authored the Spanish wine bible The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain.

From humble beginnings, Valenciso have become a leading light amongst Rioja’s small, yet growing, band of micro, terroir-focused producers.  Leaving behind excellent careers at Bodegas Palacio, Luis Valentin (Valen) and Carmen Enciso (…ciso) started Compania Bodeguera de Valenciso in 1998. The vineyards and cellar are located in Rioja Alta in Ollauri, Spain, a small village 4-km away from Haro. Only the best Tempranillo grapes are used, from mature, low yielding vineyards in the Rioja Alta. Valenciso is all about aromatic volume rather than physical weight – in the manner of French Burgundy and the greatest Riojas of the past. Ageing for the reserve takes place in French oak barriques, one-third replaced each year, while the white wine is raised in low toast Caucasian oak so as not to mark the wine.
The pair’s wines are much sought after by the top restaurants in Spain – Valenciso count the likes of Arzak and Racó de Can Fabes as key clients. Today, the wines can be found on some of the best wine lists Australia has to offer. Valenciso’s wines are complex, savoury, terroir-driven (as opposed to brand driven) Rioja, revealing Luis and Carmen’s preference for subtle, elegant and super refined wines.

This fleshy, classy white is crafted from 100-plus-year-old vines of Viura (70%) and Garnacha Blanca (30%). It is sourced from four highland vineyards around Haro and Villalba. After a wild ferment, the wine was aged on lees in Russian, steam-bent, untoasted oak barrels (a fine-grained Caucasian wood that allows for excellent balance between fruit and oak) for nine months.
The result is a super-pretty, aromatic wine with citrus zest, mineral and a silky savoury spicy elements and a juicy, silky and vibrant palate (racy, yet with good texture thanks to the low yields from the ancient vines). The finish is salty, savoury and refreshing.

Decant or cellar this fine wine and serve with food

Review of 2019:
93 points, Tim Atkin MW, Rioja Special Report 2021 “Yields were down a third in 2019 because of the heat, but this organic cuvée of Viura with 30% Garnacha Blanca doesn’t taste over-concentrated. Subtle and aromatic, with fermentation and ageing in (15% new) Russian oak, it’s a wine that needs time to exert its charms, with jasmine aromas and subtle baking spice and orange zest flavours.” 

Our Price $55.99 Last of the vintage