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This exceptional, rocky white Rioja goes from strength to strength. From 2023, the new name reflects the wine’s origin: a blend of white grapes co-planted within the poorer soils of the Tempranillo vineyards, harvested and fermented as one. Today, the blend comprises 85% Viura with 10% Malvasía Riojana and 5% Garnacha Blanca. The grapes are drawn mainly from the cool, high-country of Ábalos, including the old-vine vineyards of San Cristóbal (650 metres) and Perquita, planted in 1965. Since 2022, the wine has benefited from a portion of 75-year-old Viura from Baños de Ebro.
In a region starting to elevate its white wines, Tom Puyaubert’s new wave Rioja Blancos are a revelation. In the cellar, the grapes ferment wild in concrete, and the wine is raised in a mixture of concrete eggs, old barrels and 4,000-litre foudre as Puyaubert seeks to harness the mineral salinity and tension given by the rocky limestone soils and old vines in his highland vineyards. It’s an expressive, floral-and stone-scented white that bolts through the palate in a salvo of orchard fruit, orange oil and hints of spice. As always, this wine is equal parts mouthfilling and impeccably bright and fresh.