Dominio del Challao Rioja Virna 2022 0426JACKSON 8) and the vintage (2022)

8) and the vintage (2022)

it's a chance to taste the gentler side of one of Islay's most intense distilleries

and it's one of the sites that convinced the Racines team - Burgundy's Etienne de Montille and Brian Sieve

The 2024 captures acute acidity balanced with Chenin's weight

Dense with mature sugar and fiber and a complexity that speaks to its age

Dominio del Challao Rioja Virna 2022 0426JACKSON 8) and the vintage (2022)An Argentine winemaker walks into Rioja. It sounds like a setup, but Manu Michelini of the Mendoza winemaking clan teamed up with Rioja native Carlos Fernandez in Labastida to farm old vines organically and biodynamically at around 600 meters, aging the wines in 12th century caves where the temperature and humidity simply don't move. Virna comes from the more vigorous sites: Tempranillo and Garnacha with a scattering of Mazuelo, Viura, Garnacha Blanca