Bodegas Exopto Rioja El Bernate de Exopto Blanco 2022

Bodegas Exopto Rioja El Bernate de Exopto Blanco is a single-vineyard white from 80-year-old Malvasía Riojana on highland limestone.

El Bernate is a tiny plot in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, in the north-western corner of Rioja Alta, where limestone soils sit at more than 500 metres. The vines are 80-year-old Malvasía Riojana, a variety that is now rare in the region but historically important to its whites. Tom Puyaubert, a Frenchman who founded Bodegas Exopto and works chiefly with old-vine highland parcels, set out to preserve what he calls the mineral and citric character the variety develops on these limestone soils. To that end the fruit spends two weeks on skins and ferments with indigenous yeasts in a 950-litre concrete egg, where the wine also matures for a year before bottling. Early harvesting, the altitude and a deliberately analogue approach in the cellar give a chalky, sinewy white of considerable texture, with yellow flowers, fennel and a saline edge.

Drink now with a decant, or hold five to eight years. Serve at 10-12°C with grilled octopus, roast chicken or a hard sheep's cheese.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.