2018 CVNE Cune Rioja blanco Reserva

The first wine of Reserva and Gran Reserva whites is already here in the 2018 Cune Blanco Reserva, a style of wine they produced in the 1950s and 1960s, dry wines aged in barrel. They used Viura grapes from nine hectares of whites planted in 1973 at 400 meters in altitude on clay-rich soils in the village of Torremontalvo. In the cooler 2018, the grapes were picked in mid-October, a little later than normal, and the juice from the pressing of the full clusters fermented in a combination of concrete and oak vats and also some barriques. It matured in barrel for 18 months. This is a return to the classical style of Cune Blanco Reserva that was produced in the past in the winery in Haro, but the wines were never really exported and were consumed locally. The wine has a very spicy and smoky nose, with aromas of dried flowers and chamomile, rich and easy to drink, a fresher style than Tondonia, as here they look for something flattering with aging potential. This is the first in a series of whites that might see a Gran Reserva in the future. But if they can do it in 2019, I will taste it in five years' time... Starting over! 10,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2020.