Valenciso Rioja Reserva 2018

Valenciso Reserva is a Tempranillo Rioja drawn from seventeen organically farmed plots within five kilometres of the winery at Ollauri.

The parcels lie around Villalba, Gimileo, Rodezno, Briones and Haro, in the western stretch of the Sonsierra that some writers now argue should be treated as a zone in its own right. It was the heart of Rioja's grower-producer movement in the late nineteenth century, and the reasons still hold: clay and limestone soils, altitudes reaching 600 metres, and old Tempranillo, none of it under sixty years in this cuvée. Farming across all seventeen plots is organic. Fermentation is natural and takes place in concrete, after which the wine spends eighteen months in mostly low-toast French oak barriques from Radoux, with around 10 per cent in low-toast Caucasian oak to soften the wood influence further. It then returns to cool concrete to settle for a further two years. Clarification happens naturally, so the wine is neither fined nor filtered.

Open and ready on release, with the frame to hold for ten to fifteen years. Serve at 16-18°C with roast lamb, grilled beef or aged 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.