Jose Gil El Calado del Espino 2023

José Gil, together with his partner Vicky Fernández, started the Jose Gil Vigneron project in 2016, but despite his youth, he has a long career as a winemaker both in a family winery in La Rioja and staging in Germany and Burgundy, which is the origin of the concept of his winemaking: village and single vineyard wines.

El Calado del Espino 2023 is a white wine produced in very limited quantities that faithfully reflects the character of the limestone soils of Rioja Alavesa. It is made exclusively from Viura grapes sourced from two small plots: one in El Bardallo, San Vicente, which is around 50 years old, and another in Labastida, which is 80 years old.

Whole bunches were pressed using a pneumatic press, and the must fermented in the underground cellar in new and used 500-litre French oak barrels, as well as in 54-litre demijohns. The wine was then left to age in the same containers for 11 months.

The result is a precise and elegant wine, with aromas of damp stone (a true reflection of the Bardallo plot, where the soil is so thin that the bedrock is exposed), dried flowers, Mediterranean herbs, pollen and chamomile. On the palate, it offers a pronounced mineral character, vibrant acidity and a balance that lends depth and makes it highly versatile with food.

With just 1,780 numbered bottles, El Calado del Espino 2023 is one of those wines that honestly reflects its terroir.

A Rioja white designed for those seeking authenticity, finesse and the purest expression of the Viura grape, it has also impressed the most influential international critics, who awarded it 95 Parker points and 96 Tim Atkin points.