Alegre v Valganon

Owned, grown and made by husband and wife team Oscar Alegre and Eva Valganon, La Calleja is a plot of 1.07 hectares planted 21 years ago when Eva was a little girl (she helped plant it). It is on her family's 16 hectare farm in Fonzaleche. This village of 80 people is situated in the very limit of la Rioja, way out west of Haro. It's north west of Cuzcurrita de Rio Turon, with which its wines share a sub-regional similarity. La Calleja is the last vineyard of the region as you depart towards Burgos (N232-A1). At 580 metres' altitude it is one of the highest and coldest parts of the region. It's situated below the Montes Obarenes, on the left bank west of the Ebro River. The soils are very similar to those of Rioja Alavesa (above the river on its right bank) - predominantly chalky limestone - elsewhere the left bank below the river is more often pebbly and iron-rich. The Obarenes are part of the Sierra Cantabria. In the picture above you can see the river passing south through the mountains towards the camera. From the river on the right is the Sierra Cantabria, from the river on the left are the Montes Obarenes. SCOTT WASLEY, thespanishacquisition