Hermanos Hernáiz Finca La Emperatriz Blanco is a Viñedo Singular single-variety Viura white wine made by Viñedos Hermanos Hernáiz-Finca La Emperatriz, in the D.O.Ca. Rioja, Spain.
Viñedos Hermanos Hernáiz has released a new selection of wines from the “Finca La Emperatriz” vineyard to replace the range of nine wines that were made until the end of 2019, where the wines would stop being available when the harvested grapes ran out. As such, Hermanos Hernáiz Finca La Emperatriz Blanco is replacing Finca La Emperatriz Viura.
The D.O.Ca. Rioja established a new geographical indication classification system that has been in use since 2019 and that seeks to value the identity of the terroir, which also gives the wine its quality. The new geographical indications are the following: Viñedo Singular, Vinos de Municipio and Vinos de Zona.
Finca La Emperatriz has the Viñedo Singular classification. It is the name of an old vineyard in Baños de Rioja that belonged to Eugenia de Montijo, who was the wife of Napoleon III and Empress of France, and that the Hernáiz family acquired in 1996 and started their first winemaking project under the name Bodegas La Emperatriz.
The Viñedo Singular classification is given to small plots of old vines with a limited but high quality production. To be given this quality stamp, which is the highest of the three geographical indications, they must follow a series of strict guidelines to ensure the wines they produce are of a high quality.
The Hernáiz Brothers’ drive has led them to refocus their winemaking and create this range of wines, changing their name to Viñedos Hermanos Hernáiz but retaining the historical essence of Finca La Emperatriz to name the wines from this unique vineyard, in honour of the former owner and as a tribute to the woman who was behind the classification of the great Bordeaux Crus wines.
Hermanos Hernáiz Finca La Emperatriz Blanco is made with Viura grapes from vines aged between 50 and 65 years of age from the Finca La Emperatriz where the soils are composed of gravels and boulders over an interesting sandy-loam structure.
The harvest is carried out manually and the clusters pass over the selection table before macerating with their skins for six hours. Half of the berries ferment in concrete tanks, with the rest in 225-litre barrels. The resulting wine ages for four months under its fine lees and with occasional battonages.
The wine is transferred to concrete tanks for 10 months and it then ages in French oak barrels with a third in new barrels, a third in second-year barrels and the rest in third-year barrels.