Old bush vine Viura adds complexity and a backbone of minerality balancing the textural, ripe fruit and smooth, spicy oak. The finish is rich and superbly long. 2021 is probably the best ever vintage of this wine. The '21 was a dry but relatively cool year and produced some top wines of excellent quality. Though the conditions were excellent there was also huge skill in the winery to balance the lees ageing, French oak and the use of concrete to provide freshness.

The fruit is sourced from vineyards near Haro, at the foot of Montes Obarenes, where soils are chalky-clay with a high limestone content. Here the River Ebro enters the Rioja region bringing clouds and cooler temperatures, resulting in excellent quality white grapes. Predominantly Viura, with 25% Tempranillo Blanco (and some Malvasia, Garnacha Blanca and Calagrano) - the grapes are hand-picked into 200Kg crates, and are hand-sorted further at the winery. 80% of the must is fermented and aged on fine lees in new French oak barrels, and the remaining 20% is aged on fine lees in egg-shaped concrete tanks.

The Gómez Cruzado winery dates back to 1886 when Angel Gómez de Arteche started to produce and bottle his on wine in Haro, at the very heart of Rioja Alta. This was in the day when the wine trade between Rioja and France passed along the Tudela-Bilbao line, and the key Rioja wineries were located around the station of Haro. The winery sits just 100m from the station to this day. Subsequently bought by Angel and Jesus Gomez Cruzado in 1916, and more recently by the Baños family, David González (winemaker) and Juan Antonio Leza (viticulturalist) now head up the winemaking team. They have been working with Gomez Cruzado for over 10 years, crafting wines from vineyards of old bush vines in the most elevated areas of Rioja Alta and Alavesa. They source from almost a hundred different plots across 3 distinct regions: Alto Najerilla, Bajo Najerilla and Sierra Cantabria. Sierra Cantabria (Rioja Alta and Alavesa): Vines grow in poor, white, chalky-clay soils, on sunny slopes at the highest part of the sierra (up to 750m altitude) - where the Mediterranean and Atlantic climates meet. The area produces wines with freshness and elegance. Bajo Najerilla (Rioja Alta): in the triangle formed by the villages of Uruñuela, Cenicero and Torremontalbo, where the Najerilla river flows into the River Ebro. Tempranillo vines grown in alluvial soils at an average altitude of 500m – in a warmer, more temperate continental climate with a notable Mediterranean influence. Wines have high maturity and excellent ageing capacity. Alto Najerilla (Rioja Alta): Garnacha vines over 80 years old, planted in ferrous clay soil at around 750m altitude, on north-facing slopes near the Sierra de la Demanda. The continental climate confers strong fruitiness and marked acidity on the resulting wines.

This wine makes a characterful partner to full-flavoured, cream-laden dishes.