Winemaker Notes
#96 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025
Bhilar Blanco presents a nose that is fresh and aromatic with a slight oxidative note, reminiscent of almond skins and citrus peel. The wine is weighty and complex in the mouth; structured yet surprisingly fresh and aromatic. The acidity balances the wine and leads into a fresh finish.
Blend: 80% Viura, 20% Garnacha Blanca
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Lightly gauzy and golden in hue, this silky white is fragrant with hints of honeysuckle and mint, offering flavors of raw almond, mandarin orange peel and dried white cherry. At first there's a pleasing succulence to the acidity, but then it's firm and refreshing, a clean-cut swathe on the salty finish. Long and distinctive. Viura and Grenache Blanc. Drink now through 2032. 1,000 cases made, 256 cases imported.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Bhilar Blanco is a blend of 80% Viura and 20% Garnacha Blanca from biodynamic vines that were harvested early in the warm 2022 vintage. It had 15 days of skin contact and fermented with indigenous yeasts. It matured in French oak containers of different sizes for one year. It's subtle, harmonious and elegant and has a moderate 12.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.34. It has a powerful and balanced mouthfeel and a dry, long finish.
With hundreds of white grape varieties to choose from, winemakers have the freedom to create a virtually endless assortment of blended white wines. In many European regions, strict laws are in place determining the set of varieties that may be used in white wine blends, but in the New World, experimentation is permitted and encouraged. Blending can be utilized to enhance balance or create complexity, lending different layers of flavors and aromas. For example, a variety that creates a soft and full-bodied white wine blend, like Chardonnay, would do well combined with one that is more fragrant and naturally high in acidity. Sometimes small amounts of a particular variety are added to boost color or aromatics. Blending can take place before or after fermentation, with the latter, more popular option giving more control to the winemaker over the final qualities of the wine.
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.