Conde Valdemar Rioja Viñedo Singular
WHY WE LOVE IT
- This is Valdemar Family’s most unique jewel and reflects their commitment and respect for the great white wines of Rioja.
- This wine is certified as Viñedo Singular and is from the Finca Alto Cantabria vineyard.
- Conde Valdemar Rioja Viñedo Singular is the result of blending noble vines that are more than 40 years old, grown on steeply sloping hillsides in high-quality soil.
- It has an exquisite silky and elegant touch due to its fermentation and aging in French oak barrels, which is hard to achieve with other grape varieties.
Varietal: 100% Viura
Elaboration: Grapes are hand-harvested in small crates and placed in a cold room at the winery to ensure their balance. Once the free run juice is obtained, a partial fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks as well as in French oak barrels. Finally, the wine is aged on its lees for 6 months in French oak barrels with weekly battônage to break the lees and enhance its velvety texture.
Tasting Notes: Straw-yellow color with greenish hues, clean and bright. It displays intense aromas of white flowers such as acacia blossom and white fruits such as melon and pear, with fine smoky notes and a delicate background of nuts like hazelnut. On the palate it is complex, rich, full-bodied, with a tasty and saline taste characteristic of the limestone soil of the Alto Cantabria vineyard. Long and very elegant aftertaste.
PRESS
2019 – 95 Decanter | 2023 – 90 James Suckling
2021 – 94 Wine Enthusiast | 93 International Wine Review | 93 Vinous | 90 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
“Always pioneering” is Bodegas Valdemar’s motto. Five generations of the Valdemar family in Rioja, Spain, have remained committed to producing wines reflecting the diversity of their vineyards. For over 135 years, the family has incorporated innovative initiatives like creating the first barrel-fermented white wine and the first Tempranillo white. They have also been instrumental in recovering varietals presumed to be extinct, such as the Maturana grape and the Granciano variety.
In 2019, they established the first non-American winery in Washington State, led by siblings Jesús and Ana Martínez Bujanda, CEO and COO of Valdemar Estates. Under the “inherited know-how” they received from previous generations, the innovative winemakers have turned their land into sustainable wine agroecosystems, using organic matter to improve fertility, cover crops, pheromones to control pests, varietal diversity, biological corridors, and native forests, resulting in an the International “Wineries for Climate Protection” certification. This designation’s four pillars align with the Bodegas Valdemar commitment to reducing the carbon footprint, using renewable energies, and managing water while reducing waste.