2022 Alegre Valganon Rioja Blanco

The 2022 Blanco, from a very warm and dry year that was saved by the winter rain and their earliest harvest ever for these grapes, shows exceptionally fresh (it has a pH of 3.3). It’s 85% Viura, 10% Garnacha Blanca and 5% Tempranillo Blanco with a moderate 12.9% alcohol, and it’s serious, austere and a little closed, without any exuberance you might expect in a torrid year. It’s chalky and complex beyond its price point, carefully crafted, with some skin contact and 50% of malolactic fermentation and élevage in a mixture of concrete and oak containers of different sizes and age.