2019 Remirez de Ganuza Blanco Reserva

This is already the 5th year of this fantastic white wine from Remirez de Ganuza and this wine already belongs to the top among the white (Rioja) wines. They have chosen to put this Remirez Blanco in a Burgundy type bottle and we can completely understand this. Although still young, the Remirez Blanco has the complexity of a beautiful Burgundy or Rhone wine. Fresh, complex, beautifully interwoven wood, minerally, elegant. In his younger years, we advise to decant the Remirez Blanco for a while. This is really fun!!! In the Verema blog (the leading independent wine blog about Spanish wine), the Ganuza Blanco has been voted the best white Spanish wine.

The Remirez Blanco consists of 70% Viura and 30% Malvasia from vines between 60 and 80 years old. As with all wines Fernando has the grapes picked by hand and there are 2 sorting tables so a double selection to ensure that only the best grapes go into the wine. The grapes that fail (sometimes as much as 30-40% are sold to winemakers in the region (because even this fruit is often more beautiful than what they have themselves). The grapes come from one vineyard planted in 1978 on sloping clay and limestone soils at 600 meters altitude in San Vicente de la Sonsierra.

The wine is barrel fermented and aged in new French oak for 12 months. The wine is raised sur lie and the barrels are turned a quarter turn every 7 days. After maceration and fermentation, an élevage follows with regular bâtonnages in a closed circuit to avoid contact with the air. Fernando places the barrels on rollers so he can turn the barrels to mix the lees with the wine. After bottling, the wine is bottle-aged for at least 12 months (and often longer) in the beautiful cellar of Remirez de Ganuza before the wine is released.

The 2019 Remirez de Ganuza Blanco Reserva is an absolute top white wine where the great acidity and minerality are particularly striking. In the nose we smell granny smit apple, white flowers, citrus fruit, very nicely interwoven oak and a little apricot in the distance. The taste is very nice. Mouth-filling, fresh, lemon zest, pebbly and saliva-inducing due to the beautiful bitterness and very nicely interwoven oak. This is a very stylish, elegant modern rioja wine with a great aftertaste. This wine has a nice drinking window of 2022-2032. Serve fresh, best to decant in his younger years.

From 2021, the white version has been named Remirez de Ganuza Blanco Reserva in accordance with the standards that are valid and the 2010 and 2011 are renamed to a Gran Reserva (this in view of the very long aging). All this just to be in line with the rules of the Rioja DOC Calificada.