Wine of the Week 3/1/22

Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real Rioja Blanco 2020

Regularly $16.99/On Sale for $12.96

A historic Rioja producer, Bodegas Riojanas was established in 1890 by the Artacho family in partnership with Rafael Carreras. However, the winemaking tradition dates back to 1799, as evidenced by a stone doorway that led to one of the vineyards and now stands at the entrance of the cellar.  Rather than being founded in the commercial hub of Haro—as many prominent bodegas were—Riojanas is in the very heart of Rioja at Cenicero where its owners, the Artacho family, had been growers for generations.

Because of this, Riojanas has long had the luxury of complete control, from vine to bottle, of much of its production, from prized sites in its home village. Cenicero’s terroir has long been revered as the source of some of the very best Riojas; complete wines that combine the elegant structure of Rioja Alta with the full body of Rioja Alavesa.

Riojanas is well-known for preserving the traditional winemaking methods while resisting fads like an over-reliance on new American oak.  Such continuity was assured not only by the enduring commitment of the owning Artacho family but the fact that, until Felipe Nalda’s retirement in 2013, Riojanas’ winemaker had been with the bodega for 49 years!  Under Felipe’s guiding hand, it remained one of the few remaining houses committed to the traditional methods that gave us one of the world's most distinctive and long-lived styles of wine.

While we associate Rioja primarily with red wines, Riojanas has a long history of cultivating white grapes.  Viña Albina, a vineyard planted with white grapes, was the first brand of Bodegas Riojanas.  This white, from the Monte Real vineyard site, is 80% Viura,  and 20% Malvasía de Rioja, and while is spends four months on the lees in barrel, the wine is driven by fruit and minerality.  A terrific and flexible food wine, the Bodegas Riojanas Monte Real can also be enjoyed on its own.  Toss one of these in the fridge and have it with your next meal.  We think you’ll be back for more!