2021 Sierra de Toloño Rioja Blanco

You might know the grape making up this wine as Macabeo or Macabeu if you’re on the France-Catalunya border, but up in Rioja they know it as Viura, where it’s had a bit of a mixed history. It was planted extensively in the region in the early 20th century and became the dominant grape in Rioja Blanco wine, but by the beginning of the 21st new vineyards of Viura were few and far between – the tradeoff to this being that the majority of its vines are old, gnarled and producing beautifully concentrated fruit. Rioja native Sandra Bravo, who sources the fruit for her Sierra de Toloño wines solely from the higher altitude vineyards in the north of the region, keeps it bright and energetic here; it’s an Aligoté-drinker’s Viura, if you will, medium-bodied but zesty acid to balance, with balance of juicy pear and salty citrus.

 Rioja, Spain