Rioja Blanco, Maturana Blanca, La Nevera, Nivarius 2019
Tim Atkin MW 93; Guía Peñín 96; James Suckling 93; JancisRobinson.com 89
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Why this wine
Maturana Blanca was almost lost to Rioja and is still planted in tiny quantity; this is a single 4.3-hectare plot of it at up to 750 metres. Three years on fine lees builds texture without oak, so the grape's tension survives intact. There is very little else like it in Spanish white wine.
At a glance
- Grape
- Maturana Blanca
- Region
- Rioja, Spain
- Alcohol
- 13.50%
- Body
- Medium
- Acidity
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Medium (5-10 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Seafood, Poultry & Pork, Rich & Creamy Dishes
How it tastes
Apple, pear and quince, with hints of herbs, beeswax and a distinct saline edge. Refreshing and high in natural acidity, yet with real texture from long ageing on the lees, so there is tension and weight at once. Maturana Blanca 100%.
The producer
Nivarius works only with white wines from cool-climate vineyards in Rioja, and its eleven-hectare estate doubles as a heritage-recovery project for the region's rarer indigenous white varieties. Maturana Blanca, which appears in Rioja's written record as early as 1622 and was later on the brink of extinction, has become the mainstay alongside old-vine Viura and Grenache Blanc. The fruit for this wine comes from a single 4.3-hectare plot, Finca La Nevera, in the upper Iregua Valley, planted between 680 and 750 metres where a cool microclimate lengthens hang time and builds acidity; the soils run from sandy-siliceous colluvium at the surface through siliceous sand and light clay to water-retaining clay below. Hand-picked at optimum phenolic ripeness and lightly pressed without destemming, the wine fermented in stainless steel with native yeasts and then spent a minimum of thirty-six months on fine lees with regular bâtonnage.
Food and drinking
Serve at 10–12°C. Try it with grilled turbot, chicken in a cream and mushroom sauce, roast pork loin, or a bowl of clams cooked in white wine. Drink over the next five to ten years; no decanting needed, though a larger glass suits it. The bottle is sealed with a Twin Top technical cork. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.