Viura
75cl * 12.5% ABV * Rioja, Spain
This wine is distinctive. It is Rioja. Not least because all grapes are harvested from the Gravonia vineyard in Rioja Alta. But very few, if any places on the face of the Earth, could replicate this wine as it is. The Viura grape of Rioja requires the skilled attention of both viticulturist and winemaker to produce this wonderful wine. This is because the viticulturist must tend to the vine with precision and care, allowing for the perfect ripeness to allow natural aromatic flavours and good acidity. The winemaker must use their skills to be judicious on the style of oak and the amount of aging in oak and in bottle. Large old oak foudres were chosen for the Vina Gravonia and the wine was aged for four years. Complexity will be the overarching experience of this wine. From the nose to the palate and a delicate but long finish.
Pair with any kind of white fish, grilled sea bass, turbot, monkfish. Cod or hake will be perfect too. But this wine will be equally delicious with turkey, chicken or even rabbit.
95 Points Luis Gutierrez, RobertParker.com, 2024 '2016 was a superb vintage in Rioja, and the 2016 Viña Gravonia Blanco, which has the cellar aroma that all the wines, especially the whites, have, due to the longer time the wines spend in barrel. The white vines in this vineyard are now 92 years old and their juice was fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. They explained, "We have never used selected yeasts." It was matured in their well-seasoned American oak barrels for four years. It's paler than any of the other whites, and it has a little less pungency, with very good freshness. It's elegant, subtle, clean and ethereal. They had good yields and a good climatic year. 42,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022. I give these wines a conservative drinking window, but they will probably last much longer. 2025 - 2032