Valenciso Tempranillo Blanco 2021

Valenciso Tempranillo Blanco is a three-barrel white Rioja made from a white-berried mutation of Tempranillo that was only recognised as a Rioja variety in 2007.

Tempranillo Blanco was first identified in 1988 at Murillo de Río Leza and admitted to the Rioja DOCa list of permitted varieties nineteen years later. Valenciso, based at Ollauri in the Rioja Alta, noticed that several of its Tempranillo vines were carrying white grapes with distinctive red striping on the skin; those vines were propagated and replanted, and the tiny crop went into the estate’s Reserva for years. With the vines approaching twenty years of age the decision was taken to bottle the parcel on its own, and only three barrels are made. Winemaking follows the house white: a wild ferment and nine months on lees in Russian, steam-bent, untoasted oak barrels, a fine-grained Caucasian wood chosen so that texture builds without the oak asserting itself.

Drinking well now and worth three or four years in bottle; serve at 10–12°C with roast chicken, grilled prawns or a mild sheep’s-milk 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.