Nivarius Valdesabril 2020, Palacios, Rioja, Spain

Minimum order: 6 bottles. We sell in cases of 6 or 12 to ensure you get the best deal, best price and best service.

Nivarius is the white wine section of the Palacios company - a small, highly specialised wine producer, and the only Rioja company that has specific separate vineyards for their reds and whites. Their vineyards are small and scattered, and generally have old vines within small plots.  

This wine - Valdesabril 2020 - is their star product from a lovely range of top end (and interesting) wines from indigenous grape varieties. 
It comes from a small vineyard at 630 metres altitude (in the hills, about 30KM south of Haro) that contains 65 year old Viura vines.

It is 100% Viura and offers up a straw yellow colour in the glass with real intensity on the nose, showing aromas of pear and quince and other balsamic pome fruits, accompanied by a touch of herbs and a slight mineral reminiscence.

On the palate it is fresh with spectacular tension and with wide glyceric sensations in the mouth and with a long finish of ripe stone fruits, aromatic herbs and some candied fruit. 

So, how is it rated?   So, where do we start?
95 Points Penin
95 Points Tim Atkin
92 Points James Suckling!
And .. the most recent vintage of Valdesabril (2022) - which is not yet released - just won Best White Wine in Tim Atkins Rioja review!

Nivarius is a really interesting project - they consider it a also a heritage recovery project. Thus, the Maturana Blanca, a variety that was practically extinct in the territory, is one of their mainstays, along with the old vines of Viura and Garnacha Blanca that are scattered in headlands of red vineyards.
They also grow Tempranillo Blanco, a variety that the winery is finding increasingly expressive and attractive (and only authorised as a Rioja varietal in the last 20 years!).

As Palacios says themselves 'To this end, we seek out privileged territories capable of producing inimitable wines, where minimal intervention is required and where honest agriculture is carried out with respect for biodiversity. This completes a way of working that always pursues the best expression of the territory and an honest elaboration with the raw material. In this way, the aromas and flavours of the best Riojan whites are enhanced, giving meaning to Nivarius.