Urbina Valle de Angel Brut Nature Sparkling Rioja DOC NV

Description

Urbina Valle de Angel Brut Nature Sparkling Rioja is a vintage sparkling white Rioja wine made in the traditional method (or metodo traditional). Quality sparkling wine was only incorporated into the Rioja denominación de origen calificada (DOCa) as recently as 2017. The 2019 Brut Nature is only their second release.

Bodegas Urbina, A Winemaking Family

The origins of Bodegas Urbina can be traced back to 1870 when Salvador Urbina first began producing wines using the Urbina name. In 1975 the family decided to bottle and age all of the wine made themselves, rather than selling grapes to other wine producers, and the single estate Urbina Rioja wines were created.

Today, the winery remains family-owned and is run by the fourth generation, Angel, Pedro and Santiago. The Bodega is well-known for ageing their wines for a lot longer than other Rioja producers before releasing them to the market. These wines are a must-try for fans of mature wines – there is no substitute for time!

Bodegas Urbina Vineyards

The winery is located in the village of Cuzcurrita de Rio Tiron on the north-western boundary of DOC Rioja. The estate comprises 75 hectares of vineyards at two main vineyard sites.

• The first site is near the winery at Cuzcurrita de Rio Turon, an area well-known for producing Riojas capable of ageing for many years, ideal for Gran Reservas.
• The other vineyards are located at Uruñuela, in the heart of the Rioja DOC, which consistently produces wines of great quality and body.

The vineyards are planted with 65 hectares of Tempranillo, and the remaining 10 hectares are planted with Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura. Bodegas Urbina produces 300,000 bottles of red Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva and a little white Crianza and Reserva Rioja. All are single estate wines.

Old Vine Viura

The grapes for the Urbina Valle de Angel Brut Nature Sparkling come from a 35 year old single plot of Viura vines that surrounds the Urbina winery. The family preserved these vines at a time when other Rioja producers were grubbing up white wine vines. It is also where the grapes for the Urbina Crianza and Reserva white wines come from. It was Pedro Sr Benito Urbina who proposed to the family the idea of producing a Sparkling wine from these precious old vines. “The plot we have has characteristics similar to those of Champagne, an old vineyard that brings aromatic complexity and that also meets the requirements of the ‘Singular Vineyard'”

Urbina Valle de Angel Brut Nature Winemaking

After the grapes are harvested, they are then vinified in the traditional way with a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Grapes from the 35-year-old Viura plot are gently pressed at 10°C, fermented at 18°C, and aged with fine lees for structure. The wine is aged for at least 15 months in the bottle and hand-disgorged (“a la volee”).

Only 11,500 bottles produced.