Alegre Valgañón 2023 Rioja Blanco

Husband and wife team Oscar Alegre and Eva Valgañón have been making wine in Rioja for just over a decade now. Their thesis is simple, yet compelling–make Rioja that tastes like Rioja used to taste. 

Rioja is one of the Old World’s most influenced regions. International palates and techniques have dictated the winemaking style here perhaps more than in any other traditional European region. Consumers the world over have come to expect consistently rich and oaky, large-scale-produced, mostly red wines from Rioja. While this might currently be the case, wines from this region have historically seen smaller production, less oak, and more attention in the vineyard than extraction in the winery. These are the kind of Riojas that Oscar Alegre and Eva  Valgañón want to produce.

This white blend of old vine Viura and some young vine Garnacha Blanca is textural and enticing. Brief skin-and-stem-contact, as well as time spent aging in large, neutral oak vessels, impart a spiced orange pith and dried apricot profile, highlighted by an earth-driven minerality that conjures the land these grapes were grown on. Pair it with sheep's milk cheeses, green olives, roasted poultry, and squash soup!