Horizonte de Exopto Blanco 2014

The one white here, the 2014 Horizonte de Exopto is a classica Rioja blend of Viura with some 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Malvasía Riojana picked from the old vineyards in Ábalos, where the red and white grape varieties are planted together--as they do not have any white grape vineyards. The white grapes where usually planted in the poorer soils to compensate yields, as whites tends to produce more than reds; however, they avoid the Calagraño, which they consider a grape that is too neutral. Volumes are therefore quite low; they produce around 3,000 bottles of this oak-aged white with the intention to create something with aging potential. The grapes fermented together and the end of the fermentation was in barrique, where the wine matured for one year. They talk about a cool vintage; the wine was bottled at 12.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.33 and seven grams of acidity (tartaric). 2014 is somehow similar to 2013, perhaps a year with more ups and downs. The wine didn't go through malolactic (which is not blocked nor pushed) and it has good aromatic intensity, plenty of aromas of herbal tea and dry flowers, in that slightly oxidative style of the old oak-aged whites from Rioja. There is good freshness, a very balanced palate with clean, focused flavors. I think this should age nicely. This is a wine that was first produced in 2008.