I love the LdH whites but they’re getting harder to find. I used to be able to buy them retail here in Houston fairly regularly but no more. I know these wines are fairly singular stylistically but are there any other whites you’d recommend, either in Rioja or elsewhere, that are similar?
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There are a few wines you can seek out that I think are “close” but they are singular wines. I would encourage you to seek out a bottle of Château Simone Palette Blanc or Musar Blanc. Below is a note on a bottle I opened of the 2005 Blanc. I hope this is helpful.
2005 Musar Blanc
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2005 Chateau Musar Blanc - Lebanon, Bekaa Valley (9/17/2019)
Scents of bee pollen, chamomile, and dehydrated apple. This continues to be a wine of contemplation. I can see lots of people not liking this, but it’s thought provoking, medium bodied, medium+ acid, and had a lingering finish that leads in with white tea and finishes with mango and passion fruit. Outstanding!!
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The CUNE Monopole Clasico blanco is a like a LdH white-lite. It uses a little manzanilla raised under flor that imparts a touch of oxidized character. Not exactly the same but still tasty.
Ever try a Jura white, from FRance? Preferably one done in the more oxidative styles.
I like the Simone and Musar recommendations. Nothing else is quite like LdH whites, but those do have some similar characteristics. I would add Bourdy Jura Blanc.
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i love them as well, very unique. i found that Honorío Rubio’s “Lías Finas” is rather in the same style and cheaper than the reserves. highly recommended.
Not the same but fino/manzanilla offer the oxidative aspect and are great wines in their own right. Great value too. The seasonal Solear manzanilla en rama is really great. Valdespino Inocente, tio pepe en rama also fabulous, among others
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I support the Musar and Honorio Rubio recs.
This.
Don’t know if they’re easier to find for you than LdH, but brancos from Caves Sao Joao in Portugal. Another is Pera Manca Branco from Cartuxa in the Alentejo. Not so cheap however.
I would add the Palácio do Buçaco whites, but those are hard to find anywhere outside the hotel, let alone abroad.
K&L carries Honorio Rubio, and the Añadas bottling is the closest thing I’ve had, although it was even heavier on the oak. Lias Finas is a Tondonia-lite bottling, and much more enjoyable to me at present. Bodegas Palacio’s Cosme Palacio 1894 is excellent, but also hard to find in the US.
And of course if you’ve got the big buxx, you can splash out on the 1986 Ygay Blanco, which was aged for 27 years (21 in oak!) before bottling. A number of shops have in the $500 range.
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I haven’t had it in a good while but I recall Remelluri’s Blanco being in the same vein as LdH. No?
No, but a great wine all the same.
Heredia whites are as traditional as Rioja whites come, Remelluri Blanco is a quite modern wine, but in a very enjoyable way.
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Second time this week that I have heard this wine recommended. I have no experience with it. Need to check it out. Thanks.
Head nodding on Sao Joao - the Poco do Lobo aged releases in particular. Love them, though they have gotten a lot more expensive (at least here in Atlanta) in past 5 years.
And agreed that Remelluri, while wonderful, is nothing like Lopez stylistically : )
Eager to try the CUNE Monopole Clasico.
Not nearly as close a match as some of the others mentioned, but if you can find a bottle of Le Soula Blanc with some age on it, it might be appealing. Sadly they seem less available in the US than they were in the UK.
Thanks for all of the recs! I haven’t had the Monopole in a long time. Will have to circle back on it.
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+1 for Musar Blanc.
While not totally there, but still in a similar vein some of Fiorano’s biancos may be of appeal. The 1993 No. 32 I enjoyed last Valentine’s certainly had great texture and that oxidative yet still strikingly mineral quality about it. A touch more floral than Lopez but check it.
Same for me and I suspect we both heard about it from the same source. It’s definitely on my list.
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