Abel Mendoza Malvasía 2023

The 2023 Malvasía was produced with grapes from vines of the Malvasía Riojana (a.k.a. Alarije) variety planted in 1992. The aim of the white varietal collection is to showcase the character of each grape through a similar vinification and élevage, fermenting them in barrels (but the labels don't mention it anymore) and aging the wines in those barrels with the fine lees that are stirred periodically for five months. It's ripe and reached 14% alcohol while keeping a pH of 3.4 and 4.81 grams of acidity. The wines are quite shy when young and tend to show the varietal character with some time in bottle. This is pale, balsamic and somewhat aromatic even if the variety is not at all related to the Malvasía Cándida, and it has notes of bay leaf, spices, iodine and a touch of peat, a constant in the 2023 whites, a little medicinal. It's juicy, round, velvety, textured, with a bitter twist in the finish. 2,623 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2024. (Luis Guitérrez)