Dominio del Challao - 'Virna' - Tempranillo, Garnacha - Rioja, ES - 2022

Notes from the Winery/Importer

Virna is a beautifully balanced village wine from Labastida in Rioja Alavesa, from Manu’s two organically farmed, 60-year-old vineyards (Los Arenales and Las Lagunas) planted on clay-limestone soils with notable ferrous content. A blend of 50% Tempranillo, 40% Garnacha, and 10% white varieties, it ferments spontaneously in concrete with 30% whole clusters before aging 12 months in used 500L French barrels and a further 8 months in bottle.

Notes on the Producer

Challao is an indigenous word in Huarpe, an ancient indigenous language in the Uco Valley where Manu was born. There is an abbey in Mendoza that bears this name. It roughly means “place where things grow.” A long way from home, Manu has found his definition (substituting a centuries old syngogue enlieu of an abbey). He chose specifically the plots above and around Labastida, at some of the higest elevation on the Basque (Alavesa) side of the Rio Ebro. Standing in the various small parcels here, one can immediately sense his inspiiration and in a way, its secret held in its seclusion. Being an outsider with bold ambition, Manu expected the trials ahead in accessing vines, either to rent or farm personally. Respectfully he took some time to meet the people and to walk the landscape. He came to meet Carlos Fernandez, a Rioja native in tune with his land making wine with a similar attention to this special village. As in the past in France, Carlos welcomed him to work together in his cellar, spending days learning the history, getting closer to the vernacular of Labastida. Now he works 6ha (2.2 he owns outright, exclusively for the top wine of Challao), across 7 plots, all in perfect aspect to benefit from cooling Atlantic breezes against the well-recognized heat of Rioja. Manu’s vision stems from a term he defines as Modernismo Clássico, inspired by the styles and culture from Rioja’s traditional wines of the early 20th century while slightly revising them, using less aggressive methods, trusting less sulphur and finding more precision. When Carlos; grandfather came tasting from his first cask, Manu was warmed by the reaction. A sigh of relaxation and grin that he was tasting the wines of his youth, the wines his grandfather would have made. This is Manu’s intention, to honor the wines from the distant path, when the land had more of a presence than a winemaker in the glass, only realized now with a modern sense of completeness. It is not to deny the rich history, as the new guy in town, but to celebrate the land as someone new to see it. Labastida is a remarkable position, where a combe lures the Cantabrian wind coming off the sea funnels over the blinding white calcareous marls. As the mountainside cascades, the land alternates between narrow gorges and short plateaus, halted by walls of overgrown rocky ledges. These outcroppings look over the red- soils below, closer to the river, where the slope smoothes to more gentle, rolling mounds. The terroir here is specific to the effects of soil, elevation and placement under the peak above. In some ways it is too cool for perfect maturation (Las Ginebras) where in the warmest areas, the wind comes in as a relief and mitigation to dehydration and unfavorable ripening. While a traditional map of Rioja divides Alta from Alavesa due to political reasons, Manu draws on a clear distinction that exists between a “côte” (referred by locals of Rioja Sonserrana) that follow a hillside at the foothills of the Sierra Cantabria, and the alluvial flats that have been leveled by the meandering Ebro river (Spain’s longest river). An aerial view gives the easiest reason for hir rationale, as the red and white soils line distinctively on either side. Each of the villages along this edge create a noteworthy signature to the wine, seen in the expressions of some other growers working inline with Manu. Labastida is the most west, just outside Haro, perched well above legendary vineyards like Lopez de Heredia’s Tondonia. The seven sites are these: 1. Arenales “Sandy Place” - 62yr old vines of mixed varietals at just around 500M 2. Paza - planted in 1982 bonsai trained in clay 520m and mostly flat 3. Las Lagunas “Little Lake - ”6yr old on an alluvial fan of marl over deep clay; close to 460M 4. Castrico “Little Castle” - Mostly marl at the western foot of the mountain (overseeing Viña Tondonia) 520M 5. Las Ginebras “Genevieres” abutting a natural park, too high to ripen yet no wind to cool it, planted to Garnacha with stunning results. Pure white chalky soils. Just under the peak at 600M elevation 6. Silentes “The silent ones”- planted in 1945. Mid-Combe 585M on a sandy bench 7. Sauco - 480m, abandoned in 1949 but replanted in 1980 to all white grapes (Viura). This will reveal itself soon! Manu and Carlos purchased 2.2 hectares in the village and work to complete six hectares, all worked organically and biodynamically (started the certification path in 2019), and purchase grapes from grape growers. They farm a variety of soils, basically sandy and loam. The winery is located in the upper portion of the village, in caves that date back to the 12th century ensuring consistent temperature and humidity for wines to age in stable foudres. The wines are pumped over and macerated with 40-50% stems and aged for 22-23 months in new French oak foudres. - Grand Cru wines - Importer/Distributor