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The Undiscovered Gem?! Tasting high-scoring white Rioja.

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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used this glass in this Video: NUDE Stem Zero Powerful Red Wine Glass
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:

2022 Bodega Alegre Valganon Blanco, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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2021 Granja Nuestra Senora de Remelluri 'Remelluri' Blanco, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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2022 Bodegas Luis Canas Vinas Viejas - Blanco Fermentado en Barrica, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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2020 CVNE 'Cune' Reserva Monopole Blanco, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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2017 Alonso & Pedrajo 'Suane' Blanco Reserva, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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2020 Bodegas Muga 'Flor de Muga' Blanco, Rioja DOCa, Spain
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The 100 Point Scoring System (from www.robertparker.com):
96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

It is a wine style that blew me away in the past, but I don’t taste it often enough. White Rioja is still flying below the radar, but you should be aware of these wines as their interest is picking up.
According to Consejo Regulador of Rioja, the production of white wines made up a little less than 10% of the total volume in 2021. However, in 2012 it was at only 5 percent showing that the production volume has increased significantly.

There seems to be a trend towards white wine in this classic red wine region and I want to find out why – so let's dive into white Rioja by blind tasting these six beauties. Rioja is a big region with 66,000 ha of vineyards spread across 100 km from east to west.

The region is one of the most well-known regions in Spain, but most people know Rioja for their red wines that can be excellent but range in quality from entry-level to great, the white wines, however, are unknown to most wine drinkers.

Producers can use nine white grape varieties but the most widely planted grape by far is Viura, also known as Macabeo. It became the dominant white varietal in the 1970s and It makes up 68% of all white wine vineyards but only 6% of the total vineyards of Rioja.

The other varietals include the international varieties Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, but also other Spanish grapes like Verdejo and Tempranillo Blanco.

White Riojas are traditionally aged in oak and therefore show pronounced toasty notes on the nose. While the regulations only require wineries to age their wines in barrels for a fairly short time some producers keep their wines for years in oak producing truly age-worthy wines.
The region follows the traditional classification also for whites, with Crianza spending a minimum of 6 months in barrels. Reserva needs to age for at least 2 years and, from those, 6 months in barrel and Gran Reserva needs to age for 4 years and, 6 months minimum in oak barrels.
So let's dive into those wines and see whether white Rioja is the next big thing.

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