Like all Valenciso wines this has texture, poise, minerality, elegance and structure – a beautifully crafted wine.
Pale golden yellow in colour with notes of delicate woodsmoke, roast chestnuts and preserved lemon peel on the nose. The palate is broad, well integrated and complete, with nuts, stone fruit, minerality and a dry savoury finish and persistent lemon freshness.
Valenciso, created in 1998, is a collaboration between ex Bodegas Palacios' Luis Valentin and Carmen Enciso. Guided by quality and integrity and a crystal clear vision, they seek to make classically structured, subtle and elegantly fine wines, 100% Tempranillo from low yielding old vines in the Rioja Alta. Winemaker Alicia Eyaralar uses exclusively French barriques, a third being new each year, to produce around 100,000 bottles each vintage. A new bodega in Ollauri was completed just in time for the 2006 vintage.
Grapes are sourced from 80 year old vines on clay, stone soil in the North of the Rioja Alta area - these vineyards are of outstanding quality. Sustainable viticultural practices are followed.
Fermented in 225 litre Caucasian oak barrels, where it aged until early July the following year and then bottled. The white Grenache gives a more textural mouthfeel, and the Caucasian oak is more subtle so doesn't dominate the fruit. Only 12 barrels produced (3,447 bottles).
A white wine that will benefit from decanting. Serve with roast chicken or pork, or fish in a delicately-flavoured sauce.
