Conde Valdemar Rioja Reserva 2016

Unusually for Rioja, all the Valdemar grapes come from the family’s own vineyards (almost 300 hectares), giving unrivalled control over the quality of the fruit at every level. Grapes for the Reserva are grown exclusively in Rioja Alavesa. This Reserva was aged for twenty-six months in a barrel, with sixty-five per cent American and thirty-five per cent French oak.

The roots of Bodegas Valdemar go back to 1889, and Joaquin Martínez Bujanda and it remains an independent estate committed to using 100% estate-grown fruit – a very unusual strategy in Rioja. Sourcing only from 290 hectares of estate vineyards has allowed Valdemar to keep quality consistent and experiment in great detail with different sites and obscure grape varieties. The range of wines makes the most of this consistency and flexibility, from unoaked entry-level Riojas bursting with flavour to dense, complex rarities that offer even the most hardened aficionado something new. Valdemar’s single-site expressions are of particular note. The high altitude Balcón de Pilatos vineyard perfectly suits the rediscovered Maturana grape. A little lower altitude, Las Seis Alhajas is warm enough to bring the late-ripening Graciano to full maturity. These highly polished wines, made and aged in their dedicated winery, perfectly demonstrate the region’s growing trend for producing site-specific wines of character and distinction.