Lopez de Heredia Vina Gravonia Crianza Blanco 2016

"2016 was a superb vintage in Rioja, and the 2016 Viña Gravonia Blanco, which has the cellar aroma that all the wines, especially the whites, have, due to the longer time the wines spend in barrel. The white vines in this vineyard are now 92 years old and their juice was fermented in old oak vats with indigenous yeasts. They explained, "We have never used selected yeasts." It was matured in their well-seasoned American oak barrels for four years. It's paler than any of the other whites, and it has a little less pungency, with very good freshness. It's elegant, subtle, clean and ethereal. They had good yields and a good climatic year. 42,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022. I give these wines a conservative drinking window, but they will probably last much longer. Drink Date: 2025-2032" - 95 PTS, LUIS GUTIERREZ, WINE ADVOCATE

WINERY NOTES:

TASTING: COLOUR - Slightly developed pale gold. NOSE - Fresh and aromatic. Complex and developed. Bouquet with aromas of third generation. TASTE - Fruity, complex, developed, very fine.
GRAPE VARIETIES: Viura (100%), from our own vineyards.
AGEING PERIOD IN BARRELS - 4 years, being racked twice a year and fined with fresh egg whites.
AGEING PERIOD IN BOTTLE -Rest, unfiltered, bottled in 75 cl. bottles.
ABV: 12,5% Vol.
TOTAL ACIDITY: 7 g/l.
RESIDUAL SUGAR: Very Dry.
GASTRONOMY - Perfect with all kind of fish; fried, grilled or boiled. Grilled seafood. Well-seasoned white meat. Very nice with pasta too