The 2010 Baigorri Blanco is a blend of 95% Viura and 5% Malvasia from 45- to 70-year-old vines, raised in French oak for eight months. The nose is intense with a carapace of creamy, vanilla-tinged oak that is in synch with the fruit (passion fruit and white peach). The palate is rounded and slightly honeyed on the entry with fine acidity, leading to a viscous finish that is furnished with tropical fruit, guava and lemongrass on the aftertaste. This is a well-crafted white Rioja that will garner international appeal. Drink now-2017. If Lopez de Heredia, steeped in history, cobwebs and black mold, lies at one end of the spectrum, the Bodegas Baigorri lies at the other. They represent the two sides of traditional and modern Rioja in 2012. Fortunately, they both make rather good wines. Although you cannot taste architecture, the multi-million euro winery of Baigorri cannot pass without mention, carved deep into the rocky hillside with panoramic views across Rioja Alavesa and its magnificent giant steps leading from its Zen-like glass entrance. However, it is first and foremost a functional design, its seven tiers over 24 meters allowing unimpeded winemaking by gravity. Indeed, that is just one facet of winemaking here, where clearly no expense is spared. Baigorri makes most Bordeaux chateaux look like run-down shacks and the winemaking is finely tuned. And I must confess that I feared this would be a vanity project, cosmetic winemaking with plenty of money but negligible soul. I found this not to be the case. While the winemaking is analyzed down to every last detail and the wines are comparatively expensive, there is patently a passionate winemaking at its concrete heart and the wines are delicious. Here, approximately 25% of the vinified crop is out-sourced under long-term contracts, with the vinification under the control of the winery.Importer: The Artisan Wine Company (US) and OW Loeb and Moreno Wines (UK)

Bodegas Baigorri’s 2007 Blanco Fermentado en Barrica is composed of 95% Viura and 5% Malvasia sourced from vines over 50 years of age that spent 12 months in new French oak before bottling without fining or filtration. Light gold in color, it reveals an inviting perfume of buttered popcorn, mineral, melon, bee’s wax, and jasmine. Round, satin-textured, and savory, this creamy effort has the depth, concentration, and acid structure to evolve for several years. It is likely to drink well through 2019. Importer: F.L. Navarro, The Artisan Collection, Brooklyn, NY; Tel. (718) 596-0722

Normally, Viura produces pleasant but unexciting white wine. It is often used as a blending grape to stretch a cuvee utilizing a portion of more expensive grape varieties. However, Bodegas Bagiorri’s 2005 Blanco Fermentado en Barrica is a singular exception. The wine is 100% Viura from 70+-year-old vines fermented with native yeasts and aged for 12 months in new French oak. Medium straw-colored, it exhibits a stylish bouquet of toast, smoke, vanilla, mineral, hazel nuts, apple, and poached pear. This leads to a creamy textured wine with the oak nicely integrated. Ripe and full-flavored, it is reminiscent of a mid-level white Burgundy from a good vintage. The wine’s finish is long and pure. It should be drunk over the next 2-3 years. Bodegas Baigorri is said to be one of the showplace wineries of Rioja, designed by Basque architect Inaki Aspiazu Iza. The Bodegas ferments its wines with native yeasts and uses only French oak.Importer: F.L. Navarro, Quality Wines of Spain, New York, NY; tel. (212) 842-8181