Faustino Rivera Ulecia Blanco 2023
$25, 12.5% alcohol, screwcap, Rioja (Spain)
For pure drinking enjoyment this is a cracking white wine. It has texture, it has fruit, and when you swallow the sparks fly. It tastes of lemon, nectarine, wax and brine, with tonic-like herb notes and honey as whispered afterthoughts. It feels good, it tastes good and it finishes even better. It has character too, which is a trait in short supply. Make hay. 93 points.
Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.
Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.
