Viñedo Singular: panel tasting results

Yolanda Ortiz de Arri Izarra, Sarah Jane Evans MW and Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW tasted 30 wines with four Outstanding and 25 Highly Recommended.

Viñedo Singular panel tasting scores

30 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 4

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 0

Commended 0

Fair 0

Poor 0

Faulty 1

Entry criteria: producers were invited to submit their latest release red and white Viñedo Singular wines.

With 19 wines scoring at least 93 points – a huge proportion – Decanter’s first full blind tasting of Viñedo Singular wines was nothing short of impressive. The rest of the field received 90pts or above, with the exception of one wine that was unfortunately corked. To put the results in context, of the 50 wines eligible at the time, producers entered 30 into this category tasting.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring Viñedo Singular wines

Most of the reds are from 2017, the year that Rioja’s new Viñedo Singular designation was launched. It was an early vintage marked by a severe April frost in western parts of Rioja Alta and Alavesa. Despite this, producers seem to have succeeded in getting the best out of their grapes.

Unsurprisingly, Tempranillo reigned supreme, although the judges’ favourite red was a Garnacha from Badarán, in the increasingly fashionable Najerilla valley in Rioja Alta – a cool-climate area with a wealth of centenarian vines.

Six of the nine existing Viñedo Singular whites were submitted for the tasting. The best of the bunch was the excellent-value Finca Alto Cantabria. Produced since the 1985 vintage, it was the first barrel-fermented white in modern times in Rioja.

Viñedo Singular at a glance

Approved in 2017, Viñedo Singular is a site-based designation with strict rules, including:

• Vineyards must have balance and limited vigour and be at least 35 years old

• Producers buying grapes from a grower must have done so for at least 10 years

• Grapes must be harvested by hand and yields are restricted to 5,000kg/ha for reds and 6,922kg/ha for whites

• Wines must pass an official double-tasting test for every vintage

The good results of this tasting might be a promising sign for this emerging category. Some producers believe that Viñedo Singular wines will help to preserve old vines; others say that they might raise the profile of unsung growers and encourage cooperatives to bottle the product of their finest vineyards separately – as is the case with Bodegas Sonsierra, from San Vicente, which presented its three Viñedo Singular wines to the tasting.

It is encouraging to see a selection of little-known bodegas at the top of the list, but it is evident that most of the leading names in Rioja are absent from it.

There are various reasons for this: the stringent production requirements are not easy to meet, and the red tape involved may have acted as a deterrent. Many growers feel that efforts should have been focused on building a solid ‘village wine’ category rather than starting from the top, whereas others feel that their single-vineyard wines don’t need such recognition to gain prestige.

Time will tell how Viñedo Singular develops.

See the top-scoring Viñedo Singular wines from the panel tasting:

The judges

Yolanda Ortiz de Arri Izarra writes for online magazine Spanish Wine Lover, taking care of its English edition. She previously worked as a news journalist for a range of publications including the Financial Times.

Sarah Jane Evans MW is a Decanter World Wine Awards Co-Chair, and a widely published and awarded journalist, author and broadcaster, who specialises in Spanish wines.

Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW is a widely published wine journalist, educator and judge. He is a DWWA joint Regional Chair for Spain, and a regular contributor to Decanter on Spanish wines.

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