2023 Valenciso Rioja Blanco

About The Wine

New. Look out for the creamy mouthfeel shot through by invigorating balancing acidity and a lengthy finish tinged with salty minerality and scented chamomile blossom. A shout out to Luis Valentín’s friend, the late Denis Dubourdieu (nicknamed the ‘Pope of white wine’ in Bordeaux), who played a key role in redefining a white which stands out as one of the purest, most vineyard-driven white Riojas on the market.

White Rioja is (back) on a roll and today is responsible for a sizeable proportion of Spain’s finest white wines. Valenciso was one of the first of Rioja’s modern classicists to recognise the vast potential of the region’s patrimony of old-vine Viura and Garnacha Blanca planted in the stony soils of the Rioja Alta. 

This super-classy white from 100-plus-year-old vines of Viura (70%) and Garnacha Blanca (30%) was grown on four small pockets of ancient, low-yielding highland vineyards around Rodezno, Haro and Villalba, all within a short drive from Valenciso’s cellar in Ollauri. 

Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged on lees in steam-bent, untoasted oak barrels, it’s an engagingly silky white redolent of stone fruits, crushed citrus, chalky saline elements and a silky, fleshy and vibrant palate. Luis Valentín believes this wine performs best in the trickier, cooler years, and 2023 has obliged.

Review

Region: Rioja

Country: Spain

Alcohol: 13%

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml

Closure: Cork under seal

Varietal: 70% Viura and 30% Garnacha Blanca