Abel Mendoza, Viura, DOCa Rioja, Spain, 2018

Producer Profile

Modest and passionate about his vineyards, Abel and his wife Maite have been making understated wines in San Vicente since 1988.

Lying in the shadow of the Sierra Cantabria, Abel has vineyards in the finest parts of the Alavesa. His knowledge and understanding of the soils is enthralling and to taste in his cellar can be an education on the effects different soils have in different years. He wants only to express the fruit and the soil and unlike many Riojans, he leaves it more or less at that. He does not want to stamp the wines with any particular style or mark of his own other than his respect for the very natural quality of the grapes and for the magical places that they were grown.

Viticulture

Calcareous clay soils, grapes from different plots. From old vines, over 30 years, grown in San Vicente de La Sonsierra.

Winemaking

Temperature controlled fermentation in new French Oak barrels and 4 1/2 months on its fine lees.

Oak Treatment

Time: 5 Months
Type: French
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: 100

Tasting Note

Straw yellow. Intense aromas, floral, very perfumed, with good fruit expression in the foreground, and well integrated wood notes of balsamic and dried grass. In the mouth it has superb acidity with a bright, smooth, silky and pleasant finish.

Food Matching

Cheese, Fish and Foie Gras

Awards

Robert Parker 94 Points
The 2018 Viura comes from an average of 40-year-old vines spread in the mixed plantings of old vineyards. It fermented in French oak barrels with neutral yeasts and matured for some five months in barrique with the fine lees that were periodically stirred. 2018 seems like a great vintage for the whites here, and even if extremely young and tender (it was just bottled when I tasted it), the Viura is very pure and clean. The palate is very tasty and reveals vibrant acidity. It has great balance, and even if it might feel like a lighter year, I think this has all the components to develop superbly in bottle. 3,016 bottles were filled in March 2019. LG, 94 Points, June 2019.