“Personal, pioneering and exclusive"2020
13.838 numbered bottles.
The different grape varieties were harvested manually in small crates, separately and at their ideal moment of ripeness, based on grape tastings and lab tests, during the first and second weeks of September.
All the grapes go through cold storage and a sorting table. The extraction of the must is gentle and delicate, with low yields in order to obtain pure, fruity musts that respect the terroir as much as possible. The musts obtained from each variety undergo the initial alcoholic fermentation separately, in small stainless steel tanks at low temperatures. Once fermentation is complete and after a period of time ageing in contact with the lees, the selected blend, or cuvée, is made from the single-varietal white base wines in the proportions indicated above. This blanc de blancs is left to rest until January, when the tirage takes place and, with it, the second fermentation in the bottle, characteristic of the traditional or champenoise method.
The bottles are stored for 30 months, in the ideal temperature and humidity conditions of the winery's undergound cellars. During this time, the wine remains in contact with the lees, acquiring harmony, complexity, depth in aromas and textures, and fine effervescence. In August 2020, the bottles were disgorged and refilled with the same sparkling wine to ensure its personality was fully preserved, with just a tiny Extra Brut dosage of 0,6 g/l, which only harmonizes the lively acidity without masking the purity of the variety and terroir. It remained in the bottle rack for at least another 10 months to perfect its elegant maturity before being released to the market.
Pale yellow, lively and intense,
starting to show its long aging in the bottle. Fine bubbles and persistent. Fresh, complex aromas of stone fruit, white flowers, citrus fruit and tertiary notes of nuts and brioche; very well assembled. In the mouth it is effervescent yet smooth with a creamy texture that shows, once again, a balance between the vibrant acidity of youth and the elegant cloak of maturity. The finish is deep and delicate, with an enticing mineral and saline background.
A very food-focused, versatile wine that can be enjoyed from start to finish with shellfish (oysters, scallops, prawns), sushi, sashimi, foie gras, Iberian ham, Caesar salad, salmon in puff pastry, paella, pasta, roast lamb, pigeon, turbot or monkfish in the oven, goat's cheese, Comté cheese and dark chocolate with olive oil and fleur de sel, to name a few options.
In 2015, the DOCa Rioja Regulatory Board began, for the first time in its history, the process of assessing the creation of a possible new category of quality sparkling wine within the Designation of Origin. To this end, the technical committee commissioned a team, led by Rafael Vivanco, fourth generation of the family and winemaker at Bodegas Vivanco, to develop and propose its regulations, studying the potential of Rioja and the most international success stories.
Finally, in 2017, the proposal, which was initially based on the Champagne model (manual harvesting, traditional or champenoise method, etc.) albeit the personality of Rioja terroirs and grape varieties was approved. Quality aspects were further reinforced though, with lower yields, lower sugar content (only Brut Nature, Extra Brut and Brut), longer maturation on the lees between tirage and disgorging (minimum 15 months for Generic, 24 for Reserva and 36 for Gran Añada), as well as the requirement for the finished sparkling wine to pass a demanding tasting by a panel of experts before it can be released to the market.
The first vintage in which the production of quality sparkling wine was officially authorised in the DOCa Rioja was 2017. Just a handful of wineries requested permission to start the first vinification, Bodegas Vivanco being one of them. This came in the wake of two vintages of experimental sparkling wine vinifications and Rafael Vivanco’s personal determination to explore and understand the aromatic and ageing potential of each Rioja variety in this context.
For all these reasons, Bodegas Vivanco is a pioneer in producing a sparkling wine that is truly unique, using mainly indigenous Rioja varieties in its selected blend or cuvée (hence the name Cuvée Inédita) with a minimum dosage and high ageing potential, aimed directly and exclusively at the Reserva category.
An estate-owned, 42-hectare vineyard located on a gentle slope at an altitude of over 500 metres above sea level in Briones, Rioja Alta. It is flanked to the north by the Sierra de Cantabria and to the south by the Sierra de la Demanda, owing its name to the nearby 16th century Sanctuary of La Concepción. It is a unique and pioneering vineyard in Rioja as it exclusively grows all the different white varieties authorised by DO regulations. It enjoys the best conditions for growing these grapes: a clear Atlantic climatic influence and cool, deep clay-limestone soils, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly with balanced sugar content, a lively acidity, varietal aromas and fine minerality.
This is the first time that a sparkling wine has been made with mainly indigenous Rioja white grapes: 45% Maturana blanca, 30% Tempranillo blanco, 15% Viura and 10% Chardonnay.
Recently recovered from extinction, Maturana Blanca is the Rioja variety with the oldest written record, having been mentioned as early as 1622. Like Godello and Verdejo, it comes from a cross between Traminer (or Savagnin) and Castellana Blanca. Although still a minority grape (with only 39 ha in Rioja in 2020) Bodegas Vivanco is a pioneer in its cultivation use to produce different white wines. Maturana Blanca wines are an intense golden-green, with aromas of white stone fruit, citrus and herbaceous notes, good structure and depth in the mouth, low pH and great cellaring potential for the production of sparkling wines.
Inspired by the oldest 18th century silver labels on exhibit at the Vivanco Museum of the Wine Culture in Briones, La Rioja. These first and exclusive labels were hung on the decanters to indicate the provenance of the wine that had travelled in barrels to its destination.
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