Ondarre Valdebarón Blanco

Not complex, but a pleasant oaked white Rioja. It painfully reminds me of another wine, but let's not call names. Intense bouquet of honey, apple, butter and melon. Good volume and a long aftertaste with flavours of smeared apples and a touch of minerality. Nice QPR.

Valdebarón is a wine to open if you want an affordable (in terms of price and stocks) white from Rioja. It's not complex, but it's definitely good. Intense bouquet of honey, apple, butter and tropical fruits. It feels naked if you remove the lees/oak layer. Aye, it lacks freshness (think of smeared apple vs green apple), but overall it has good volume, minerality and concentration. Considering the price tag, good choice for an everyday drink.