Bideona Rioja Alavesa Villabuena V1BN4 2021

The grapes come from carefully selected hillside parcels situated at around 500 metres elevation surrounding the village of Villabuena. The area is protected by the Sierra Cantabria and the mesoclimate imparts the wines with excellent balance between freshness, elegance and good fruit concentration. The bush vines are planted in limestone soils and are cultivated with respect for the environment, using minimal sprays of copper and sulphur when required. The fruit is hand-harvested in 15 kilogram boxes to preserve the quality. Current Denominación de Origen regulations in Rioja only permit the use of a village name on the label by the location of the winery (i.e. the building and not the vineyards) thus the wine from the Villabuena vineyards is marketed as V1BN4.

The grapes were manually sorted to maintain diversity and subtle variation in ripeness. Fermentation and malolactic conversion took place with selected yeasts in stainless steel tanks and concrete vats, at moderate temperatures. The amount of daily pump-overs and maceration timings were tailored to each individual tank based on tastings, with the aim of obtaining balance without over-extraction. The wine was made without excessive use of new oak or oxidative ageing. 44% was matured in new and second use 300 litre French oak barrels for nine months, with the balance being aged in stainless steel tanks on its fine lees.