Our View:
A remarkable and wonderfully inventive white Rioja which was a “must buy” for us on first tasting. A reinterpretation of a historical classic, this wine is aged in sherry casks and is blended with 5% Manzanilla sherry.
Unique, delicious and a “must try” wine.
The Wine:
Produced with a blend of white varieties, hand harvested in 20 kg cases at optimum ripeness. Soflty pressed, as in the 60s, the must goes into concrete tanks for their debourbage; then into stainless steel tanks for the alcoholic fermentation. Once this is completed, the wine will go with its lees into vats and botas of 300 lts and 500 lts that have been previously used by two, three or more wines. The wine ages in these recipients for around 8 months, with regular tastings.
The uniqueness of this wine lies in the contribution of a small quantity of manzanilla, developed by the traditional method of biological crianza under “velo de flor”. The wines’ ageing contributes to its peculiar organoleptic characteristics, adding aromas of chamomile, dried fruits, and a long and persistent aftertaste. The marked acidity increases Monopole Clásico’s freshness.
Tasting Note:
Straw yellow color with slight golden tonalities. On the nose, this wine is complex, offering fruit notes such a pear, apple, white currant and white flowers -- along with some spice. On the palate, salinity and elegant acidity provide freshness.
The Facts:
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Wine
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Monopole Clásico |
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Vintage
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2015
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Style
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White Wine
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Grape Variety
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Viura and others |
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Alcohol Content
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13.5%
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Closure
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Cork |
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Bottle Size
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750ml
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What the critics say:
“Relaunched in 2014 after a gap of 35 years, this highly unusual white is aged in Sherry casks of 300 to 500 litres and blended with 5% Manzanilla. (I’ve no idea how CVNE get this past the authorities.) Floral, saline and refreshing, it’s a zesty, yeasty, excitingly complex reinterpretation of an historic wine. 2018-21”. Tim Atkin - 94 points
“The second vintage of the recovered traditional white, the 2015 Monopole Clásico is Viura with a good dollop of Manzanilla Sherry from Sanlúcar that adds biological notes and hints of nuts and spices. 2015 is the best vintage in recent years, with good quality and quantity, quite homogeneous wines from an early harvest. This wine matured in well-seasoned, neutral 300-, 400- and 500-liter oak barrels for eight months and was then blended with the Manzanilla. This is the way Monopole was always produced decades ago. CVNE's classical winemaker, Ezequiel García "El Brujo," died in August 2017, and they added a black band on a corner of the label as an homage to him. It's quite lean and at first you don't notice the biological aromas much; in wines like this that character tends to grow with time in bottle, and it does appear with time in the glass as the wine breathes. It's subtle and with some sharpness and chalky sensations on the palate, very tasty and long”. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 92 points
