Bodegas Baigorri Blanco 2017
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James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Attractive golden with an intense nose with fresh aromas. Fruit sensations dominates with silky in the mouthfeel, well balanced with a long and intense finish. This wine pairs well with most types of seafood and shellfish, white meats, foie, and fresh cheeses.
Varietal Composition: 90% Viura, 10% Malvasia
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
"Plenty of oak here, this has a very fresh and crisp lemon nose with a cedary and spicy edge. The palate is fresh and lively with a dry, powdery apple finish."
Founded in 2002 by Jesus Baigorri who made his fortune in the travel industry and decided to fulfill his dream and become a vintner. In 2007 Jesus and his partners sold the winery to Pedro Martinez Hernandez.
Bodegas Baigorri returns winemaking to its origins in a state-of-the-art facility that is as much a work of art as the wines it creates. Built around the winemaking process, an elegant glass structure emerges from the soil and welcomes the visitor with a stunning display of the surrounding vineyards, emphasizing that it is here where the process begins. Diving more than 30 meters below the surface and relies on gravity to drive the fruit and must through its evolution towards world-class wine.
Commonly found as a single varietal white or blended with Malavasia and Grenache Blanc, Viura is a vital, leading white grape of Rioja. It also thrives in the lower elevations of the Penedes, where it takes the name Macabeo and adds aromatic and fruity notes to the traditional Cava blend with Parellada and Xarel-lo. Somm Secret—Called Macabeu in France, this versatile grape is prevalent in Roussillon where it makes still, sparkling, dry and sweet wines.
Highly regarded for distinctive and age-worthy red wines, Rioja is Spain’s most celebrated wine region. Made up of three different sub-regions of varying elevation: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Wines are typically a blend of fruit from all three, although specific sub-region (zonas), village (municipios) and vineyard (viñedo singular) wines can now be labeled. Rioja Alta, at the highest elevation, is considered to be the source of the brightest, most elegant fruit, while grapes from the warmer and drier Rioja Oriental produce wines with deep color and higher alcohol, which can add great body and richness to a blend.
Fresh and fruity Rioja wines labeled, Joven, (meaning young) see minimal aging before release, but more serious Rioja wines undergo multiple years in oak. Crianza and Reserva styles are aged for one year in oak, and Gran Reserva at least two, but in practice this maturation period is often quite a bit longer—up to about fifteen years.
Tempranillo provides the backbone of Rioja red wines, adding complex notes of red and black fruit, leather, toast and tobacco, while Garnacha supplies body. In smaller percentages, Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) often serve as “seasoning” with additional flavors and aromas. These same varieties are responsible for flavorful dry rosés.
White wines, typically balancing freshness with complexity, are made mostly from crisp, fresh Viura. Some whites are blends of Viura with aromatic Malvasia, and then barrel fermented and aged to make a more ample, richer style of white.