De La Riva Macharnudo Blanco 2024

This opens with iodine, crusted sea salt and a subtle touch of lime, wrapped in delicate floral notes. The palate is saline and expansive, yet ample and incisive, with a deep texture. There’s a solid and angular, almost architectural sense of salinity here, layered and persistent. One of the most compelling expressions of this style. Drink or hold.

"Hold on to your hats, this is grippy, slim, intense, a slow burn white that reminds you just how brilliant the Palomino grape can be. Gunsmoke reduction on the opening, juicy and fleshy but so understated, soy, sea spray, white pear, grilled almonds, with a touch of Xeres tang. Limestone soils, 3.35ha, harvest August 30, fermented in 615l sherry butts, no temperature control, one year of flor ageing. From the brilliant De La Riva winery, with owners and winemakers Willy Perez and Ramiro Ibanez." (07/2025)

"Iodine and saltiness on the nose, really smells of the ocean - like an oyster shack with orange and lemon scents alongside white pepper and pears. Wild herbal elements with brisk acidity and a deep salty core - olive tapenade and lots of toasted nuts. Quite a singular style with some smokey reduction and a minerality that just lasts and lasts. Director Luis Pérez, winemakers Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez." - Georgina Hindle (07/2025)

The white 2024 Macharnudo San Cayetano comes from a very old plot of Palomino in Pago Macharnudo, San Cayetano, where the natural concentration is very high. San Cayetano has different exposures, and this is selected from the north-facing side, which gives more freshness and elegance to the wines. The year is much better; they have more experience with the vineyard and they gave it less flor, because the wine had the natural concentration and complexity. There might be some 10% of wine with flor (in previous vintages was 15% to 20%) to give it a little bit more salinity. The wine displays a bright, almost fluorescent yellow color and a complex nose, subtle and nuanced rather than explosive. It's still far too young and will gain complexity in bottle and also weight and depth. In two years, this should be a bomb! It has a vibrant palate with pungent sensations and is intensely mineral and very long and sapid. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2025. This is sold exclusively through La Place de Bordeaux.