Ontanon, Rioja, Spain
Ontañón is both Classic and Unusual, and like all families, it harbors loose verses that playfully slip through the fingers like a drop of wine…
Bodegas Ontan is a family-owned winery located in the heart of Rioja. For four generations, the Prez Cuevas family has cultivated vineyard land south of the Ebro River just outside the tiny town of Quel. Through the years they have continued to purchase property near their original holdings on the higher-elevation slopes (2,600 feet above sea level) of the Sierra Yerga Mountains and currently have more than 800 hectares planted to vine, making them one of the top three family vineyard owners in Spain.
Essence means something that is important, characteristic or fundamental in a thing. And in Ontañón, our crianza combines these three conditions because each year it sets us a challenge in all these factors which come together when making a wine: maximum care in an increasingly rational and sustainable form of viticulture, winemaking practises firmly guided by the absolute pursuit of quality and the vocation of the people who devote themselves at each step in the path to achieve the infinite nuances of pleasure that an Ontañón Crianza can bring us when it reaches our palate.
Every harvest is different, because the climatological factors are also a fundamental part of this essence. It represents Rioja. Its soils, its climates, the altitude of each of our vineyards. The combination of two key varieties for our identity: tempranillo and the typicity of a tradition and such an important setting in the history of winemaking in Spain as Rioja, its landscapes, its people, its ways of making and living wine. A timeless tradition which we love and respect, and which is present in each and every one of the steps we take with this wine.
And the blend. The coupage. A mixture of varieties and terroirs. Knowing how to juggle a tiny universe of factors to ally yourself, with every vintage, every harvest, with excellence. In this case, one plus one never only makes two. The mixture of soils, so well planned, so well cared for, is much more than just adding them together. The result is to multiply the importance and the differentiating features.
Two varieties: tempranillo and garnacha.
A blend of selected, estate-owned vineyards.
Two kinds of oak: American and French.
An infinite number of factors to achieve excellence.
In cool years, Ontañón Crianza offers us different nuances to those in warmer years, in the mouth, on the nose, even in the feel. The fruit part moves us; it’s true, but we work with the casks so that the oak is present but does not dominate the aromas as a whole. A wine that expresses Rioja, its elegance, its length and the guarantee that it will always make you want to continue drinking. Rioja in essence. Essence of Rioja.
Ontanon Contrebia Tempranillo Blanco Rioja
James Suckling 90
A very elegant nose with aromas of pineapple, banana and cooking apples, as well as subtle hints of white blossom.
Intense tropical fruit aromas, with hints of pineapple, white flower and citrus. The palate has texture and balance with ripe stone fruit characters, crisp acidity and a lengthy finish. ~Winery Notes
Ontan Tempranillo Blanco is made from the Tempranillo white grape. In 1988 a wine grower in the Rioja Baja region discovered in the midst of his Tempranillo red grapes one of his vines had produced yellow green clusters of grapes. After several years of investigation, the Consejo Regulador of Rioja accepted that this was a natural mutation of the usually red grape.
Currently Tempranillo Blanco is found only in the Rioja wine region of Spain. In 2007, the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade working with the Consejo Regulador of the Rioja region came to an agreement that would allow the planting and use of Tempranillo Blanco in white Rioja wines produced under the DOC labels.
Only a handful of wine growers in Rioja have Tempranillo Blanco vines. Bodegas Ontan saw the potential of this grape and planted in 2010. 2016 was the first vintage of Tempranillo Blanco that they released.
Ontanon Crianza Rioja
James Suckling 92
Baking spices, white sesame, red berries and plums on the nose. Fine texture with a medium body, juicy berries and firm tannins. Pretty long yet elegant. Tempranillo and garnacha. Very well balanced. Delicious now, but can hold.
The wine expresses subtle aromas of black cherry with overtones of spice and offers voluptuous fruit, with a delicate framework of natural acidity that opens up and deepens over time. The wine pairs well with roast chicken, game and meat. ~Winery Notes