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I love white Rioja. Some of my most memorably pleasurable white wine experiences have been with white Rioja. I am, possibly, unusual, but I love the savoury, herbal oakiness and also the flavours of Viura grapes. I can remember the sensual pleasure I got from a barrel fermented 2002 white that I tasted at the beautifully designed Bodegas Baigorri. It was dark golden, with green lights. The smell was so, so appealing. The taste was fat and peachy, then savoury, almost salty. The perfect white wine. I’d already mentally filled my under stairs racks with bottles when the crashing blow of the price and the unavailability in the UK sent me into a dark, dark mood, only to be lifted by an 8 course lunch. However, back in supermarket land, I tasted half a dozen white Riojas that were priced between £4.99 and £6.99. I’ve had better wines within this price bracket before, but I was pretty under whelmed by this lot. A couple were pretty good, I suppose. The problem was that I'd spent the whole day looking forward the the tasting, only to find that they were either merely alright or pretty dull.
Our favourite was Marqués de Cáceres 2005, which is £5.49 from Majestic, or £4.99 until 5th February. It had a rich, tropical, pineapple smell, which evolved and improved in the glass. It was full, rounded and fat in the mouth and Rhonwen picked up a hint of bubblegum on the finish. It had just a touch of grip on the finish, which I assume is a result of deft oak usage.
Second best was Faustino VII 2005, which is £5.98 from Asda. It had a great, very typical smell, which was green and savoury with a hint of furniture polish. The taste was dry and savoury and pretty good, but nowhere near as good as M&S’s Oaked Torresoto or Cune Monopole from Waitrose, which both ring my bells beautifully. Unfortunately, neither was submitted for this tasting.
Third best was M&S’s Unoaked Torresoto 2005, which is £5.49. It had a fairly typical smell, with a hint of vanilla. The taste was pretty dreary and reminded Alex of tinned grapefruit juice that’s been left open in the tin overnight. It had a bitter finish.
Bodegas Palacio Viura 2004 is £6.99 from Morrisons had a light fresh smell. The taste was like a pineapple juice and white wine cocktail, except bone dry and rather pathetic.
Baron de Ley, Club Privado 2005 is £5.02 from Asda. I’d also tried this wine at the vineyard and wasn’t been impressed then, either. It smelt of silver polish and cabbage, which is a sign of too much sulphur. This lifted a bit, but the wine tasted fairly dull. It had a touch of fizz, which made us shudder, and a bitter almond taste.
Campo Viejo is a brand about which I just cannot find anything positive to say. Their Viura, which is £4.99 from Sainsbury’s had a nasty, nasty smell, like hair remover. It was watery, insipid and reminded us of lemon juice and water.
This is absolutely not a typical view of white Rioja. I strongly recommend that you fly out there and taste the wines in situ. Visit wineries, taste wines in restaurants and get a feel for the fantastic whites, reds and rosados tasted with the best food in Europe, in my slightly biased opinion.