Why it matters
The producer
The winery stands at Carretera de Pamplona Km 1 in Logroño, while Viña Ijalba’s vineyards reach into several Rioja areas. Dionisio Ruiz Ijalba’s conversion of exhausted aggregate quarries into vines remains the estate’s physical foundation; the bottle range extends that independent streak through recovered native varieties and a 100% Graciano released in the 1990s.
Its current white-wine specifications make the approach tangible. Tempranillo Blanco and Maturana Blanca are each bottled as single-variety wines, so the grape and its particular Villamediana de Iregua site remain visible rather than disappearing into a blend.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Logroño is the winery base, but the estate’s holdings are spread around Logroño, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and the Najerilla Valley. Rioja on the bottle locates the producer in the region; the two whites narrow the picture further through Villamediana de Iregua, where both documented parcels sit at 500 metres.
That elevation is part of the practical frame for Ijalba Tempranillo Blanco from laderas costanazo and Ijalba Maturana Blanca from La Sacristana. The named sites distinguish two dry white wines made in the same broader region but from different grapes and parcels.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The estate applies organic production principles throughout its process and reports that 70% of the harvest is picked by hand, with rigorous vineyard selection, while 30% is mechanical. That combination puts selection at the vine stage while allowing a sizeable estate to work vineyards across several locations.
The 1991 winery has a 1.25-million-litre winemaking bay with stainless-steel tanks and French-oak vats, plus an underground, climate-controlled barrel hall containing 1,500 French- and American-oak barrels. The white-wine details are more specific: Tempranillo Blanco ferments mostly in concrete with a small American-oak portion, while Maturana Blanca uses mostly concrete with a smaller share in 500-litre French-oak bocoy barrels.
Wines to know
The range in view
The documented range is organised around grape character rather than one standard house blend. Ijalba Tempranillo Blanco is 100% Tempranillo Blanco from laderas costanazo: 85% concrete fermentation, 15% American oak and three months on fine lees. Its dry, medium-bodied shape carries tropical fruit, citrus and a lightly toasted note, ending on tart citrus acidity.
Ijalba Maturana Blanca is 100% Maturana Blanca from La Sacristana. Four months on fine lees follow fermentation split 90% in concrete and 10% in French-oak bocoy, producing a white described with fresh tropical fruit, a mineral background, silky texture, refreshing acidity and a persistent finish.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Ijalba Tempranillo Blanco. The 2022 wine is listed in Sweden, and the current producer specification gives a clear view of the wine’s construction: 100% Tempranillo Blanco from the 500-metre laderas costanazo vineyard, mostly fermented in concrete, with a small American-oak share and three months on fine lees.