Notes
HONEST & DEPENDABLE
Like an old friend that knows just what to say to lift your mood. Straight to the point but without being blunt! Delicate, silky, and bright, with a pleasant familial shoulder you can always depend on. Good for a worry free mood.
Facts
Annual Production: 6,000 bottles (ALBAE Wine Club has access to a limited number of 900 annually)
Type: Blanco (White)
Body: Light
Palate: Dry
Finish: Smooth
Grape Variety: 95% Viura (Macabeo) and 5% Malvasía
ABV%: 13.0
Ageing: Bottled after full alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature
Winemakers: Pilar & Carmelo Fernández Eguiluz
Bodega: Fernández Eguiluz
Region: La Rioja Alta, Sub-region La Sonsierra, Village of Ábalos, between Samaniego and San Vicente de la Sonsierra
Designation of Origin (DOQ): Rioja
Micro-Climate: Continental, mild, with high insolation and cooling summer breezes. About 450l/m2 average annual rainfall
Elevation: Between 580 and 620 meters above sea level
Age of Vines: Over 40 years old, distributed in all elevation levels of the vineyard
Soil: Poor, calcareous and sandy clay
Viticulture / Farming: Sustainable
Tips
• Drink now or keep for up to 3 years
• Pairs with Ibérico ham, Paté or any Spreads, Poultry, Pasta or Pizza, all Mediterranean and Asian rice-based dishes spiced but not too hot. Also great with full-flavour fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and also some of the medium-flavour fish, such as snapper, swordfish, grouper or trout
• Ideally chilled at about 12 Celsius (specially if paired with fish-based dishes)
Terroir
The sub-region of La Sonsierra, in the northern part of the Rioja Alta, is one of the greatest viticultural areas of La Rioja. Especially Ábalos and San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The micro-climate and the altitude are ideal for vine farming. This very unique terroir has to the north the Sierra Cantabria and Montes Obarenes that block the humid winds from the North and the Cantábrico sea. To the south the river Ebro valley with its mild climate. The soils are of poor calcareous sand, ideal for the cultivation of vines.
Vinification
The grapes are from all three zones (high, medium and low) of the about 14 hectares (35.5 acres) of vineyards that the Fernández Eguiluz family owns in Ábalos.
After an early green harvest in August removing clusters to achieve the best organoleptic conditions ensuring the health and quality of the grapes, and a harvest by hand, selecting clusters in the field, the entire clusters are transported to the winery and vatted in stainless steel tanks where the intracellular alcoholic fermentation happens by gravity and at a controlled temperature.
The wine is gently filtered by plate and then bottled.
Winemakers
Pilar and Carmelo are the third generation of this family, fully dedicated to their vineyards in Ábalos and wine elaboration since the XIX century.
Basilio and Baldomero, the grand parents started to buy vineyards and produced wine, wine vinegar and "arrope" (a grape syrup used to preserve fruits or as a condiment), mainly for the family consumption.
In 1989 Julián and Mari Carmen, children of Basilio and Baldomero established Bodegas Julián Fernández Garrido. They bought more vineyards. Now their vineyards are between 35 and over 100 years old.
Before building their own winery they produced wine for themselves and for some of the large Rioja producers, such as Muga.
Now Julián is still consulting and helping his children, Pilar and Carmelo.
Carmelo after his studies decided to go back to the vineyards. Pilar after her university worked in textiles for several years but in 2004 decided to go back to Ábalos and join her brother and father in the winery. She studied then oenology in Valencia and Madrid, where she got to meet Carlos Sánchez, a wine passionate from Madrid who changed his professional life as a teacher to oenology and viticulture.
In the last seven years they grew the winery from three to ten different, excellent wines. Six different labels of their own and four more in collaboration with Carlos Sánchez.