Bodegas Roda has launched Roda I Blanco 2019, their first commercially accessible white wine.
Described by the vineyard as “probably the greatest vintages of the twenty first century,” the wine is crafted with a mix of outdated vines, dominated by Viura, supplemented by Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca, and sourced from quite a lot of high-altitude sloping plots – cabezadas – round Haro and surrounding villages within the north-west of Rioja.
“We had entry to outdated vines and we’ve been doing exams, however we ended up consuming the wine ourselves,” mentioned Bodegas Roda managing director Agustín Santolaya. “In 2016, one of many house owners [Mario Rottlant] acquired very critical and mentioned: ‘I desire a white Roda and I need it quickly.’ So we needed to get on with it.”
The vineyard had been experimenting for years, making an attempt to provide a product completely different from their conventional oxidative fashion or the standard summer time white. “The truth that we’re presenting the wine as summer time is about to finish is a press release,” mentioned Santolaya. “We wished a wine that might go properly with meals, so we wished quantity, however we additionally wished freshness.”
Bodegas Roda initially experimented with smaller French oak barriques, however discovered the wooden affect too heavy. Due to this fact fermentation came about in small French oak fermenters earlier than maturation for 18 months in a mixture of the 4,000-liter fermenters and 500-liter French oak bocoyes, not all of them new.
“Extra is a phrase we’d moderately not use,” defined Santolaya. “The oak, we are saying, is well-integrated and never too aggressive. We attempt to watch out with it as a result of typically it will possibly actually dominate.”
With solely 4000 bottles accessible, the Bodegas Roda I Blanco 2019 retails for £60 and it’s accessible within the UK by way of Mentzendorff.
For extra data, take a look at Bodegas Rodas’ official web site.
