Conde de Los Andes, Blanco, Rioja, Spain (bottle price £30)
Conde de los Andes is the name of the one of the most prestigious wineries and cellars in the Rioja region. It was bought in 2014 by the Murua family (Bodegas Muriel), who has lovingly restored the cellars to their former glory and has preserved the more than 400,000 bottles that are the winery’s legacy, with a few dating back to 1892.
This wine is made from the local white grape varietal - Viura, from a very special single estate. The grapes are grown on 30-year-old vines, the wine is fermented in premium French oak casks for six months on full lees.It’s had a bit of time to age and that mellows down the intensity so what you are left with is a balance between richness from the oak and the purity of the fruit remaining on the finish. A Flunder Wines favourite.