Monopole, Rioja Bianco Classico Gran Reserva 2016

Monopole Clásico Gran Reserva

Monopole gran reserva is made with grapes from our own vineyards in Villalba, a village at the foot of the Toloño mountain in the Sierra Cantabria. This mountain range protects the vines from the north winds and here the Foehn effect plays an important role in assisting grape ripening.

The plot is called “La Plana”, meaning “flat”, but despite its name, the vineyard is planted on an east-facing slope. The vines are dry-farmed on predominantly free-draining sandy soils which cause a constant but gentle water stress in the vines. This in turn leads to low yields of loose bunches with small, concentrated berries.

Once the grapes achieved optimum ripeness, the bunches were picked by hand into small crates, this being done very early in the morning to take advantage of the coolest daily temperatures. The crates were then transported immediately to the winery where they were held in a refrigerated chamber for 24 hours to preserve aromas and avoid oxidation.

The yield of this vineyard is very low, resulting in the limited production volume of the wine. The grapes were pressed gently in a small pneumatic wine press and fermentation subsequently took place in used barrels of 300 litres and “botas” of 500 litres.

The wine has been aged for 60 months in four used Rioja barrels and 1 even older “bota”.