Vina del Lentisco Villota Seleccion Blanco 2019

At 'single estate' Villota, the wines are made exclusively from home-grown grapes. The family business also works on a small scale, with the advantage that the wines have a lot of terroir expression and are characterized by the prominent location of the vineyards in the Rioja Alavesa, directly on the Ebro river.

Insiders consider this strip of land the 'Côte d'Or' of Rioja, where grand cru wines are produced. In 2013, the Pérez Villota family broke away from a partnership with the famous Viñedos del Contino, taking their beautiful, old vineyards with them and starting the artisanal bodega.

The Villota Blanco Seleccíon is a classically made white Rioja with a modern nuance, in the sense of a shorter barrel maturation with little oxygen contact. The Viura grapes come from a 45-year-old plot with a very limited production.

After picking, cold skin maceration and pressing follow immediately. When fermentation begins, the wine is transferred to small French oak barrels for six months of maturation on the lees. The result is an impressive, wood-matured white Rioja with many gastronomic applications. Wonderful, for example, with roasted fish with a classic white wine sauce.