2018 Hermanos Hernaiz "Finca La Emperatriz" Blanco Reserva Rioja

This superb white is a pure Viura from the cooler zone of Baños de Rioja, deftly wooded in French oak followed by a year in concrete. White flower aromas segue into a palate that's tangy and stony, with lime and citrus flavours, plenty of extract and concentration and a peppery finish. Will age well. 2023-30

I love this expression of White Rioja. There is an elegance to this that shouldn’t be unexpected but I feel is unexpected. Minerals, white flowers, and an incredible synergy of subtle exotic woods and the woodsy herbal notes (I love this! It is a subtle background note, but trying to pin that combination of components is maddening!). I keep on putting my nose in the glass! On the palate the first thing that I notice is the focus and the minerality. What I really love about that is that the minerality here plays very differently than from the whites that are sourced from the Sonsierra region of Rioja. This is a wine from a very unique terroir, and it tells you that immediately. The problem with trying to describe this wine is that it has so few peers to make an easy reference to. Texturally this feels somewhere between a white Bordeaux and white Burgundy, leaning more towards the former but the mid palate makes me think of the latter. There are two incredible Rioja characteristics: the freshness and the composition of it. Here the time and oak and all the additional bottle age have this wine composed, integrated, and settled. Rioja, red and white, at its best can showcase this. The fruit, even being almost 6 years old, is so fresh. There is almost no sign of age to this. The fruit tones are cool, ranging from citrus, to pear to melon and something tropical. Old vines and careful winemaking can make Viura into a varietal that will capture your attention. And back to the minerality, it has been delicately but persistently present, from the first sip to the lingering finish. I want to call this a show stopper, but it is too reserved of a wine to be called that. I don’t know what I want to call it but I know I want to drink it, and potentially put a few in my collection as well. OK maybe we call this a game changer…..