The white that helped rewrite Rioja. When Enrique Forner brought Bordeaux thinking home in 1970, cold fermentation in stainless steel was the change that turned the region's whites from oxidised and tired into something fresh.
Tasting Notes
Pale straw with brilliant highlights. A very fresh bouquet of pear and apple, with apricot and white peach behind and a light floral lift on top. The palate follows the nose closely, vivid and clean, with citrus running underneath the orchard fruit and just enough weight to stop it feeling thin. It flows elegantly and finishes long and well balanced, dry and gently mineral. Viura at its most direct, made to be drunk rather than contemplated.
Quick Facts
- Grape: 100% Viura
- Origin: Spain, Rioja DOCa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa
- Style: Dry white, unoaked, cold fermented in stainless steel
- Winemaking: Temperature controlled fermentation in stainless steel to protect the fruit and aromatics, no oak
- Bodega: Cenicero, Rioja Alta
Food Pairing
Light appetisers, shellfish and smoked salmon, grilled white fish, salads, tapas, and fresh goat cheese. Also holds up to duck and to lightly spiced dishes.
Serving
Serve at 10 to 12°C, achieved by opening the bottle once it comes out of the fridge. Drink young while the fruit is at its brightest.
About the Producer
Enrique Forner founded Marqués de Cáceres in Cenicero in 1970, after his family had spent the Civil War years in France and had come to own two châteaux in the Médoc. He returned to Rioja with the Bordeaux playbook and the guidance of the legendary oenologist Émile Peynaud, cut back the long oak ageing the region relied on, and put fruit first. Alongside Marqués de Riscal he introduced cold fermentation in stainless steel, and the crisp, aromatic style of white Rioja drunk today descends directly from that decision. His daughter Cristina Forner runs the house now, the fifth generation of the family in wine.
