Treat yourself to this deliciously complex Gómez Cruzado Rioja Blanco aged 2 years. You'll immediately pick up notes of honeysuckle, stone fruit, and toasty oak on the nose. On the palate, expect a smooth texture and a long citrus finish. Perfect for elegant dishes like roast chicken and creamy pasta sauces.

Critic Review

Decanter Magazine: 91Pts (2018 Vintage)

"Mainly Viura, with 25% Tempranillo Blanco, this fresh white Rioja is Burgundian in style, with minerality allied to a rich creaminess. Grapes are harvested from a single plot, but vinified and aged separately before blending. Five months' lees ageing (half in barrel, half in concrete) gives a textured palate, with subtle oak integration. Citrus and stone fruit linger across the long finish."
Julie Sheppard

About the Producer

The Gómez Cruzado winery dates back to 1886 when Angel Gómez de Arteche started to produce and bottle his own 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 now heads up the team. He has 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. He sources 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.

Vineyard and Winery

The Viura and Tempranillo Blanco grapes are harvested from a single plot, slightly sloping, in a high altitude area of Haro. The soil is stony alluvial - with pebbles on the surface and limestone below. The vines are low yielding, and harvesting is by hand into 200kg crates. The grapes are hand-sorted at the winery then lightly pressed (around half the stems are included) and spontaneous fermentation occurs. Alcoholic fermentation is in stainless steel at 16ºC, then a third of the wine spends 5 months in French oak (not roasted, steam bending) with its lees, and half is aged with lees in concrete. The parts are then blended and bottled.