Javier Palacios grew up in the heart of Rioja wine country, spent years in the food industry, and came back to build three wineries, two in Rioja and one in Ribera del Duero. WineWise carries the two Rioja houses, each dedicated to a different genre: Nivarius exclusively (and most unusually) to white Rioja, Proelio to reds. Two specialized facilities mean each can be made entirely on its own terms. The vineyards are relatively high in the Rioja Alta at around 650 meters, generally north-facing, with an average vine age of 45 years, farmed organically. For Nivarius, that means the patient rescue and elevation of native white varieties that Rioja had largely abandoned; for Proelio, cool and unhurried fermentations, with the time and space that red varieties grown at high elevation reward. ABOUT NIVARIUS: Nivarius takes its name from the Latin for "snow-drift," a nod to the natural icehouse on the estate. The depression is still there, where villagers once packed snow and straw through the winter to make ice that would last the village into summer. This cool, high-elevation character defines the wines made here, and makes the perfect setting for the first winery in Rioja dedicated exclusively to white wine. Nivarius has since become the largest owner of Maturana Blanca in the appellation, a variety that had nearly vanished from the region entirely, alongside Tempranillo Blanco and old vine Viura. Raúl Tamayo has the run of a facility built to the unique needs of 100% white winemaking, giving this genre all the space and patience it needs, unhurried by red wine production. The whites that emerge are vivid and precise, expressive of varieties that Rioja almost lost, and of a place cold enough to have once supplied the village's ice.