Valcaliente Reserva Blanco 2018

Vinedos Ruiz Jimenez the result of a dream come true when in 1998, Francisco Ruiz, decided to build his own winery to use the grapes he was growing, instead of selling them. All the vineyards are organically farmed in the small village of Aldeanueva de Ebro in Rioja. The idea was to offer the best quality, most terroir expressive wines that the land has to offer using only organic and sustainable parameters. This was quite a rare idea in Rioja back in 1998 but he knew that organic and biodynamic was the only way to give quality and terroir to the wines. Today they are the only organic and Demeter certified winery in Rioja. Winemaking Detail: Gently pressed and the juice is taken directly to large French oak barrels to ferment with wild yeasts. The fermentation begins within 24 hours; with wild yeasts only and will last around 10 days. The wine is transferred to tank to decant and then back to the French oak to age. After 6 months the wine is then taken back to tank to rest, where it will be clarified and bottled. It will rest in the cellar a minimum of 24 months before release. It's organic and biodynamic, it simply does not carry the Demeter logo.

Gently pressed and the juice is taken directly to large French oak barrels to ferment with wild yeasts. The fermentation begins within 24 hours; with wild yeasts only and will last around 10 days. The wine is transferred to tank to decant and then back to the French oak to age. After 6 months the wine is then taken back to tank to rest, where it will be clarified and bottled. It will rest in the cellar a minimum of 24 months before release. It's organic and biodynamic, it simply does not carry the Demeter logo.

Floral aromas with nutmeg, hints of toasted oak, herbs and ripe stone fruits and almond. Displaying a wide and complex aromatic bouquet as the wine opens to show off its depth. Gentle warming in the mouth with a pleasant mature full taste, sweet hints of matured white fruits and oak. Generous and rich complexity, quite exciting.

Blue Cheese, Crab, Salmon

Rioja is arguably the best known wine region the world, and especially in the UK where year on year we buy about a third of their total global export. The c.600 winery-strong region, set across the communities of La Rioja, Navarre, and the Basque province of Álava is the spiritual home of Tempranillo. At c.140km from the North coast it benefits from a real continental climate. Moderated by the Cantabiran mountains to the north the best sites, at 400-800m, are in the subregions of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa. Whites are made from Viura but these days Rioja is over 85% red. Oak aging (and choice of oak) plays a huge role, with wines made Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva all having their own distinctive styles and fans.