Rich and oaky, white Rioja bends the summer standard

New York

GOOD white Rioja is not your typical summer white. It's weighty not light, rich not tangy, and it demands a little more thought than the usual thirst quencher.

What's more, good white Rioja is not so much about fruit as it is about the absence of it. Savoury, oaky, mineral, spicy, nutlike; these words all come to mind. Citrus is the closest white Rioja comes to fruit, and, really, that is more of an allusion to its lively acidity than it is to a distant family member of the grape.