TECHNICAL INFO

Varietal/Blend:  Field blend of Viura, Malvasía, and the ancient indigenous white varieties of Rioja, Calagraño and Rojal.

ABV:  12.5%

Vineyard:  NAHIKUN means great desire in Euskera (the Basque language). Recovering these heritage vineyards was Sandra’s greatest desire, and greatest effort. This wine hails from five micro-parcels, all of them at least 80 years of age, in the area of Villabuena de Álava at 500 meters altitude. The yields are absurdly low, less than 500g per vine. A pre-phyloxera complantation of Viura with bits of Malvasia, Calagraño, and Rojal—the purest idea of Rioja Blanco. “The soil in Villabuena is more influenced by the river with limestone adding a strong mineral accent and the lastra soil (grey limestone rock) living very close to the roots—some of the vines are planted entirely on rock.” Sandra farms her own vines all by hand, biodynamically, and harvest is also by hand (into 15kg crates to prevent crushing).

Cellar: Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeast in 500L French oak tonneaux where it ages for eight months on the lees. Unfined and unfiltered. 12.5%. Only 1,300 bottles produced.

CSPC:  889830

Winemakers Note: Elegant and complex nose, with delicate white flowers aromas. Honeyed and spicy, with notes of wild flowers, cinnamon and chalky freshness, very well balanced with the soft and grassy mouth. It keeps the complexity from these minoritary varieties.

What the Critics are saying: “Five 'micro parcels' in Villabuena supply the raw material for this classic field blend of Viura with Calagraño, Malvasia and Rojal. Fermented and aged in older 500-litre barrels, it's a superb minimum intervention white with aromas of chamomile and subtle spices and a palate of quince, pear and yellow apple. Long and very well balanced.” 95 points, White Wine of the Year - Tim Atkin, Rioja Report, 2023. Also Tim Atkin's White Wine Discovery of the Year in 2022.

The 2021 NAHIKUN Blanco was produced with grapes from five micro-plots in the village of Villabuena de Álava planted on limestone mother rock intermixed with red varieties that are vinified separately […]The whites are also a field blend of Viura, Calagraño, Rojal, Garnacha Blanca . . . All the grapes fermented together in 500-liter barrels, where it matured with lees and bâtonnage for eight months. It's fresh and light, with 12.5% alcohol and very good freshness and finesse, serious, with some austerity and a cold feeling, deep, velvety and tasty. 1,320 bottles were filled in March 2022. — 93/100, Luis Gutiérrez, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, July 14 2022

TECHNICAL INFO

Country:  Spain

Region:  Rioja Alavesa

Appellation:  Rioja DOCa

Climate: 

Altitude: 

Soils: 

Varietal/Blend:  Field blend of Viura, Malvasía, and the ancient indigenous white varieties of Rioja, Calagraño and Rojal.

Fermentation:  Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts in old oak puncheons.

Ageing: 

Vineyard & Vine Age:  Bull Swamp and Manilla vineyards in Baw Baw Shire. The vines were planted in 1961 and and 1964 respectively.

ABV:  12.5%

Produced Cases:  50

CSPC:  889830