Bodegas Bhilar Blanco 2024, Rioja Alavesa DOCa, Orange Wine, Organic

Bhilar Blanco is Bodegas Bhilar’s skin-contact white from Rioja Alavesa, made in what many would call an orange-wine style. It is mostly Viura with a little Garnacha Blanca, sourced from the youngest of the family’s goblet-trained, dry-farmed vines around Elvillar, on clay-limestone soils with both Atlantic and Mediterranean influences. The vineyards are certified organic and farmed with biodynamic principles, with ploughing done by horse. After hand-harvesting, the destemmed grapes ferment naturally on their skins in concrete tanks before pressing and ageing in French oak.

Bodegas Bhilar Blanco has a bright orange-gold hue. The nose is mineral and citrus-led, with orange peel, lemon and ripe stone fruit. On the palate it is textured and expressive, with hints of beeswax and spice, fine grip from the skins and vibrant acidity running to a long, tangy finish.

This is a fantastic food wine: try it with baked or grilled fish, roast vegetables, mushroom dishes, spiced chicken or a plate of cured meats and hard cheese. Serve lightly chilled at around 10–12°C. It is drinking well now and has the structure to keep for 3–5 years.

Bodegas Bhilar is a small, family-run winery in Rioja Alavesa, run by winemaker David Sampedro and his wife Melanie Hickman. Bhilar is the Basque name for their home village of Elvillar, where limestone soils run through three valleys between the Sierra de Cantabria and the River Ebro. Their 9.5-hectare estate is farmed biodynamically, with old vineyards worked by hand and soil worked by horse. The winery is solar-powered and partly underground, and they use cement tanks to keep fermentations cool and the wines pure. Alongside their Rioja wines, Bhilar works with old-vine Garnacha in northern Navarra. The Lágrimas range shows their style at its most direct: fresh, characterful wines without heavy oak.