El Coto 875m Finca Carbonera Rioja Chardonnay 2025
£15.45
The wine
Opens with vibrant fruity and floral aromas alongside notes of toast and vanilla. There is a marked smoothness on the palate, with tropical and stone fruit supported by hints of smoke and hazelnut from the oak ageing.
Finca Carbonera sits at 875 metres, the highest vineyard in Rioja, which makes it well suited to the white varieties the Consejo Regulador only recently approved. The wide diurnal range slows ripening and holds the acidity and the perfume. The vineyard is a glacis, a sloping bank beneath an old fortress, with stony topsoils that drain hard. Destemmed, cold macerated and gently pressed, then fermented at 16 degrees for thirty days in new untoasted French barriques, with lees stirring afterwards and around two months more in oak.
The producer
El Coto
View all El Coto winesEl Coto de Rioja is one of the most recognised names in Spanish wine, its leaping deer familiar on tables around the world. Founded in 1970 and based in Oyón, in Rioja Alavesa, the house is defined by the purity of its Tempranillo and a bright, approachable style.
The bodega owns more than a thousand hectares of vineyard, a rare advantage in Rioja that gives it complete control from vine to bottle. Each parcel is matched to the wine it is destined for, underpinning the consistency and value El Coto is known for.
At the top of the range sits Coto de Imaz, the Reserva and Gran Reserva line drawn from the finest fruit and aged patiently in American oak. These are classical Riojas of depth and polish, made only in the better vintages, joined by single-vineyard bottlings such as Finca Carbonera.
From crisp Viura whites and pale rosados to structured, oak-aged reds, the range rewards at every level. The wines balance tradition with a fresh, modern touch and a loyal following, offering the warmth and generosity that make Rioja so enduringly loved.
