A whiter shade of Rioja: Bodegas Izadi

Roberto Vicente, winemaker at Bodegas Izadi.

(Image credit: Roberto Vicente, winemaker at Bodegas Izadi)

Bodegas Izadi is something of an outlier in Rioja. Despite its privileged location in Villabuena de Álava in the heart of Rioja Alavesa, Izadi’s range isn’t just shaped by its old-vine parcels of red varieties like Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo. In fact, Izadi now produces almost as many white wines as reds: all individual expressions of Rioja’s terroir.

Old-vine complexity

Over the past decade, the Izadi team has been reestablishing old bush vines of indigenous white varieties. ‘For more than 30 years, we were making traditional-style whites with Viura and Malvasía, fermented and aged in barrel,’ explains Gonzalo Antón, CEO of Bodegas Izadi. As Antón explains, ‘2016 marked an evolution: as well as including indigenous varieties in the Selección Blanco, Izadi began working with concrete eggs, amphorae and foudres.’

Selección Blanco is a blend of Viura, Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía and Turruntés. It is unique in Rioja for its use of all the native white varieties of the region, and the 2023 vintage was recently recognised by Decanter as a ‘complex white Rioja that speaks of old vines’ with 94 points in the 2025 Rioja Report.

El Regalo is produced from a single plot planted in 1936 (right).

A singular expression

Izadi’s experimentation extends to single- variety wines and specific plots. Larrosa Blanca is made from a parcel of Garnacha Blanca planted in 1960. A fresh and fruit- forward wine, it is fermented in stainless steel to give a pure expression of old-vine concentration with intense varietal character.

Another wine produced from old vines, El Regalo (‘the gift’) is one of a handful of white wines in Rioja within the Viñedo Singular category (high-quality wines from single plots). It comes from a parcel planted in 1936 and is a blend of Viura and Malvasía, together with small percentages of other white varieties including Calagraño and Moscatel Romano. Aged for eight months in foudre and concrete, the wine is complex and capable of very long ageing. ‘We want to make great ageworthy whites of Rioja that respect their origin and display the most identity possible,’ states Antón.

Rioja’s distinctive varieties and climate drive Izadi’s commitment to producing great white wines. ‘The identity that we can obtain is unique in the world,’ Antón concludes, ‘and the potential for ageing is just as great as the complexity that can be achieved.’ As it continues to explore the potential of white varieties in the region, Bodegas Izadi has many exciting projects planned for the coming years, refining its vision of a whiter shade of Rioja.