Editing Macabeo (section)

==Styles and winemaking==
[[File:White Rioja.jpg|left|thumb|A white Rioja made mostly from the Viura grape.]]
The grape is mostly used to make mildly acidic and young white wines mostly suitable for early consumption or blending with other [[List of grape varieties|varieties]], both red and white. 
Some of the most pleasurable examples of the variety are planted along the Pyrenees, where it is used to produce highly saline and textural white wine. 

It is often the main grape of white Rioja and is sometimes blended in small amounts with [[Tempranillo]] and red [[Garnacha (grape)|Garnacha]], both in unoaked and oaked versions. It was introduced in Rioja after the [[phylloxera epidemic]], where it largely replaced [[Malvasia]] and [[Garnacha blanca]], partially because of the ability of its wines to better withstand oxidation.<ref name="OCW"/>  Some producers of white Rioja make superior wines (Reserva and Gran Reserva) subjected to extended ageing that can span decades, resulting in a highly distinctive and aromatic wine.

Macabeo (or Macabeu, as it is known in Catalan) is traditionally blended with [[Xarel·lo]] and [[Parellada]] to make [[Cava (Spanish wine)|cava]], the best-known sparkling [[Spanish wine|wine of Spain]], and it is also used on its own in varietal wines. It is also used in the base spirit used to create [[Obsello Absinthe]].

In [[Roussillon]], late-picked Macabeo is also used in [[fortified wine]] (''[[vin doux naturel]]''). As well as on its own as exceptional young white wine<ref name="OCW">{{cite encyclopedia |editor=Jancis Robinson |editor-link=Jancis Robinson |encyclopedia=[[Oxford Companion to Wine]] |edition=Third |title=Macabeo |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-860990-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/414 414] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00janc/page/414 }}</ref>