“The one wine that has potential to become even subtler and more complex than Murrieta’s Ygay is its Capellanía. Showing how the well-kept traditions of Rioja can be informed by today’s knowledge, it is a most refined wine, made after very long ageing in French barriques. An inimitable mix of a unique vineyard and exceptional wisdom.”

“ A creamy, complex and flavorful Rioja here, with intense lemon rind, brioche and pastries, fresh apricots, almond and fine lees. A round, intense and full-bodied expression with sleek, concentrated flavors with mouth-cleansing acidity. Very serious and long! 100% viura from 90-year-old vines. Drink or hold.”

To catch up with the current vintages that I shall review every 12 months from now on, I tasted two vintages of some of the wines, including the whites. The 2018 Capellanía is 100% Viura from the plot that names the wine. The vineyard is six hectares planted in 1945 at 485 meters altitude, the highest in the estate. It fermented in concrete, the first vintage to do so, as it was fermented in stainless steel until then, and matured in second-use French oak barrels for 22 months. It spent a further seven months in concrete, a long élevage, with the idea to produce a structured white with aging potential, while keeping the varietal character. The wine is subtle and elegant, following the path of all the wines in the portfolio here, still marked by the élevage in oak, spicy and smoky. The palate is balanced, with a nice combination of fruit and oak, with a soft texture, clean, focused and tasty. It has 14% alcohol, a low pH of 3.1 and 6.10 grams of acidity. 21,836 bottled and 688 magnums produced. It was bottled in July 2022. This is now released with the Gran Reserva back label.

There's a broad, expansive feel to the palate, where layered flavors of patisserie apple, pear, tangerine peel and almond biscotti join dried mint, chamomile, beeswax and graphite accents. That focus and expression is buoyed by well-honed acidity and an underpinning of minerally salt and petrol notes, resulting in a lovely gauzy weight and harmony overall. Drink now through 2033. 1,819 cases made, 300 cases imported.