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Bodegas RODA launches its first white wine: RODA I Blanco
- The winery from Barrio de la Estación in Haro launches its first white wine after 35 years of experience in Rioja, a 2019 vintage wine from old Viura vineyards.
- RODA I Blanco 2019 is made with three of the classic varieties of aged Rioja: mainly Viura and a small proportion of Garnacha Blanca and Malvasía de Rioja.
Haro, November 2022.- After 35 years of experience in Rioja knowing and exploring Tempranillo, Bodegas RODA launches its first white wine, under the name RODA I Blanco, from the 2019 vintage. It is a label that emerges after four years of testing and tastings, which have resulted in a wine for cellaring, gastronomic, with good acidity and, above all, very original.
RODA I Blanco 2019 comes from grapes from vines located in the headlands of the old vineyards located in the winery's surroundings; poor soils where some Viura, Garnacha or Malvasía de Rioja vines were planted, traditional Rioja varieties with which the great white classics of the Denominación de Origen Calificada are made.
The orography of the Haro area is made up of small hillocks of vines cultivated in all winds. The upper parts of the hillsides, heavily eroded by centuries of tillage, are very poor and do not adapt well to the Tempranillo variety. In the past, these hillsides were used to plant white varieties, more vigorous and productive than Tempranillo. They are small areas of several hundred vines, just what occupy the starkest soils.
The soils are formed by alternating sedimentary rocks of sandstone and limestone marl, and the sandstones are often visible in the headlands. These Viuras live directly on the Tertiary soil. Together with them, other varieties were planted, such as Malvasía de Rioja, Garnacha Blanca and some table wine, such as Calagraño and Moscatel, which in this case are discarded.
With a base of Viura and small proportions of Garnacha Blanca and Malvasía de Rioja, the must is macerated in French oak vats and then fermented in the same vat and in bocoyes, also made of French oak. It is in the latter that RODA I White is aged for 18 months, followed by another 18 months in the bottle before being released.
The idea of making a white wine in the style of RODA arose almost a decade ago, and during this time, the technical team has been working on the origin, profile and cellaring vocation of the wine, until the 2019 vintage provided the ideal conditions for making it and launching it on the market. During that year, the vineyard sprouted timidly, due to the winter drought. Fortunately, 2018 had been very rainy and there was moisture in the deep layers. It was a dry year but very kind to the vines, despite the high temperatures at the end of June that were repeated in July as well. But the resilience of the old vines resulted in excellent ripening and a magnificent vintage, with high quality and low production.
In short: a vintage with a result of excellence, perfect to achieve a white wine capable of growing in the bottle and becoming a classic, just as its "brothers" RODA, RODA I and CIRSION, the great reds of Bodegas RODA, already are.
RODA I Blanco 2019 is intense, full of details and nuances such as notes of grapefruit, quince or peach, which are accompanied by citrus and mineral hints and refreshing vegetal touches. With the wood perfectly assembled, the whole is elegant and serious. In the mouth, its volume and breadth stand out. Fruit notes of quince and peach and a mineral note from the limestone of the soil appear again. With a citrus finish, it is a perfect wine to accompany a whole meal and with a structure that augurs a long aging.
Agustín Santolaya, General Manager of Bodegas RODA, has been chosen Person of the Year 'Fuera de Serie' in the category Oenology
Agustín Santolaya, General Manager of Bodegas RODA and Bodegas LA HORRA, has been chosen Person of the Year 'Fuera de Serie 2014' in the category of Oenology. On November 27th, 2014 the awards were given to the winners in a ceremony that was held in Santa Coloma Palace in Madrid, the ceremony was hosted by the journalist Lara Siscar and ended with a cocktail in which wines RODA 2009 and CORIMBO I 2010 were served.
There are several reasons why the publication 'Fuera de Serie' has decided that the Person of the Year Award in the Category Oenology was given to Agustín Santolaya: in less than a quarter of century has made Bodegas RODA, in La Rioja, an international reference. Santolaya believes that the wine, as the art, must touch and he says that 'the wine becomes the only dynamic way to bottle the time'. He is General Manager of RODA (DOCa Rioja), a successful winery that two years after marketed its first vintage, it was catalogued as a benchmark. Only 18 years later and other projects, the wines of RODA, its brothers of Ribera del Duero (CORIMBO) and also its olive oils (DAURO from the Empordà and AUBOCASSA from Majorca) still occupy the top ten.
Santolaya explains his career: we are a wine-growing family from generations. We made young wine, that is something very traditional in La Rioja, and I began with the age of 16 years. I studied Agricultural Engineering and I had my own wine brand, at the same time I was a teacher and I worked as a consultant of vine-growing. And that was how I came to RODA: I was called as a consultant and I fell in love with the project. Just observing the sensibility of Mario Rotlland (owner of the winery), saying he had no hurry, but he wanted to make a wine of the great, when all businessmen demanded a positive exploitation in four years. And I stayed here.
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