Alegre & Valgonon Rioja Blanco 2024

Viura-based with 10% Garnacha Blanca, and 5% Tempranillo Blanca from five vineyard sites of 40 years of age on average, the 2024 Blanco is pure, linear, and focused in chalky texture and sharp acidity. There’s some skin contact for depth and persistence, leading to a medium-bodied palate of unfettered clarity and limestone impact. Aged nine months in concrete and larger foudres, it’s a savory, sinewy, complex white well worth your time. Drink now through 2034.

The white 2024 Blanco was produced with 85% Viura, 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Tempranillo Blanco from seven vineyards in the Montes Obarenes. They let the wine go through malolactic if it wants and did less than 10% skin contact, aged the wine in 3,000-liter concrete vat, three 1,000-liter oak vats and 500-liter barrels, working the lees, more early on and less at the end. It has a moderate 12.9% alcohol and a pH of 3.25, and comes through as characterful, with notes of herbs, pollen, beeswax and spice. It's clean, expressive and open, with a balanced and tasty mouthfeel and a chalky sensation, finishing dry. 10,900 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2025.

The 2024 Blanco is 80% Viura, 15% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Tempranillo Blanco from Rioja DOCa. Fermented in concrete, it was aged in used barrels and 1,000-liter foudres. On the nose, a limestone-inflected aromatic profile unfolds with gentle oak and herbal notes alongside white pear and white flowers. There is undeniable allure here. The palate is dry and sleek, offering expressive fruit and combining a distinctly chalky texture with notable intensity. With one foot in history and the other in the present, this is a Rioja white of real character. Attractive, confident and subtly indulgent.