I’d be amazed if we sell a single bottle of this. The wine has nothing and everything going for it. It’s very dry, oaky, it has a drop of manzanilla sherry added to it, the label is old fashioned and the bottle is like the ones cheap German wines came in the 1980’s. This does make it sound like I’m trying to put people off and, there could be some truth in this.

Why is it here? I had the privilege of working for CVNE’s UK importers for four happy years in the 1990’s and this wine was old fashioned even then. It’s the very traditional style of White Rioja that has been produced for well over a century. It’s stored in old oak barrels that don’t necessarily give a woody flavour but allows some slight oxidation which is not disimilar to how we make some of our sparkling wines. This wine will age and improve for many many years which is why we’re not too upset if nobody buys it because if we last that long, we’ll be enjoying it in 20-30 years time.

Straw yellow colour . Complex intensity with aromas of gooseberry, apple and chamomile flowers. Sweet spice, bready and savoury flavours on the palate, marked by saline notes, with a fresh and long finish provided by a slight acidity that leads to a fruity and mineral aftertaste