Viña Otano, Rioja Blanco Crianza (Spain) 2017

 I needed a second look at this wine for the simple reason that, when I first tasted it, I was enraptured by the 2010 Gran Reserva Blanco from this house that I opened at the same time, and rendered incapable of thinking about anything else.  Tasted again in a more balanced frame of mind, I find this entirely delicious and very versatile, working well as a sipping wine (which is to say, not too much oak, which is the signature but also the Achilles Heel of Rioja wines, whether red or white) but also as a partner for a wide range of foods.  Aromatically, it shows stone fruit and melon scents with nice accents from oak spice, along with suggestions of nuttiness and vanilla that are also attributable to the cooperage, with the wood scents neither too faint nor too prominent.  Medium-bodied, with a nicely rounded palate feel that benefits from a bit of framing thanks to wood tannins that are well measured and nicely integrated, this offers complex texture from when it hits one’s tongue to the end of the wine’s finish.  The fruit isn’t overwhelmed at any point, and there’s a suggestion of mango or pineapple that shows up alongside the stone fruit and melon notes that first show up in the bouquet.  This is comprised of a blend of 75% Viura and 25% Tempranillo, though I can’t say whether it is the white mutation of Tempranillo (which is a thing) or the black-skinned version that had the juice pressed off the skins immediately.  That doesn’t much matter — the wine is delicious and supremely versatile.