Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is such a delicious white. Lots of fresh-pear and chalky notes, akin to Chablis. There’s white melon and gentle citrus nuances, too. The palate has a very attractive, chalky edge and succulent, fresh white peaches and pears abound. Mouthwatering and so fresh. Drink or hold.
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Decanter
A modern classic: a nine-variety white Rioja blend which, apart from the local varieties, also has some southern French ingredients. An original, which gets ever better. Lovely aromatics, and the underlying memory is freshness, overlaid by sweet spices, ripe pear and apple fruits, with a very long finish. A wine that is definitely built to develop complexity over time; enjoyable young and as the years pass. Drinking Window 2020 - 2028
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
2016 was a more challenging but remarkably cooler year, and the 2016 Blanco shows great freshness and contained ripeness, as the grapes ripened slowly and late. The wine had less alcohol and more acidity than the 2015 I tasted next to it. It has to be the finest vintage for the white produced here, still young and undeveloped. It's the palate where the wine is vibrant and lively, very fresh, harmonious and long. I tasted a 2007 next to this, and it showed perfect for drinking, so that can give you an idea of how this wine can develop for a good ten years after the harvest. 10,094 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2018. It has to be one of the finest whites produced at Remelluri.
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.