CVNE Rioja Monopole Blanco Seco
Pairs with: Classic Spanish tapas like tortilla española, croquetas de jamón, and garlic shrimp (gambas al ajillo); boquerones en vinagre (marinated anchovies); fresh oysters on the half shell; pan-seared sea bass drizzled with lemon oil; or a crisp spring salad topped with fresh young goat cheese.
Good for: Subbing out your usual Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Albariño for a crisp, bone-dry Spanish classic; discovering the beautifully refreshing, often overlooked white wine heritage of Rioja; or keeping a high-value, highly versatile seafood champion on hand for effortless warm-weather sipping.
Grape: 100% Viura (known elsewhere in Spain as Macabeo).
I am from: Rioja DOCa, La Rioja Alta, Spain (Sourced from select, hand-harvested estate vineyards and trusted multi-generational growers tucked within the cool, clay-loam hillside terrain of Haro and the surrounding Rioja Alta sub-region).
The Story: Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (universally and affectionately known as CVNE, pronounced "coo-nay") is an absolute pillar of Spanish wine history, founded in the legendary station quarter of Haro back in 1879. While CVNE helped build Rioja's global reputation on the backs of its majestic, oak-aged red wines, the estate made history of a different kind in 1915 when it launched "Monopole." Today, Monopole holds the proud, official crown as the oldest registered white wine brand name in all of Spain.
While the estate also produces a small amount of its historically oxidative, sherry-kissed Monopole Clásico, this contemporary Blanco Seco expression is crafted to celebrate the bright, unadorned youth of Rioja’s native white grape. The hand-harvested Viura berries undergo an 8-hour cold skin maceration to coax out delicate aromatics before a gentle gravity press coaxes out the free-run juice. The wine is then fermented completely in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats and bottled fresh, entirely bypassing oak barrel maturation to ensure that the naked, sun-drenched, and mountain-breezed fruit purity of Rioja Alta arrives in your glass completely unmasked by wood or heavy oxidation.
Why You'll Love Me: It is wonderfully bright, brilliantly clean, and effortlessly balanced—a light-to-medium-bodied white that trades heavy, buttery sweetness for a racy, linear tension and a mouthwatering finish. In the glass, it pours a beautiful, pale straw-yellow with youthful, watery-green highlights shimmering through the clarity. The nose is highly expressive and welcoming, instantly releasing a fragrant bouquet of crisp green apples, fresh Bosc pears, and ripe pineapple, seamlessly layered with complex top notes of honeysuckle, white spring blossoms, and a subtle kiss of citrus leaf. On the palate, it delivers a gorgeous structural ride; it enters with a smooth, subtly silky mouthfeel packed with flavors of orchard fruit and lemon zest before a driving, vibrant beam of clean acidity cuts right through the weight. It glides effortlessly across the tongue before sailing into a long, bone-dry, and crystalline finish highlighted by a trailing touch of white currant and a persistent, stone-dust mineral snap that instantly cleanses your palate.
