López de Haro Rioja Blanco 2023/24

White Rioja fell out of fashion, but it’s made a comeback and with wines like this it’s easy to see why. It’s evidence that sometimes, patience wins the game. And we’ve had to wait an awful long time for this. It’s made using grapes from vines up to an extraordinary eighty years old. Vines of this age yield really tiny portions of grapes so all the flavours are intensified – you can taste it in this deeply aromatic wine. It’s nutty, rich and full with a really moreish creamy texture. It’s a heady wine, packed with the flavours of ripe yellow fruits – but it’s also nice and crisp. Think pear, quince and honey, with a citrusy backbone. This is wonderful with salty, tapas-style food like salted almonds or Serrano ham.