La Vitoriana, La Vizcaina de Vinos, Bierzo, 2021
La Vitoriana is a wonderful vineyard located at 600m elevation facing north in Valtuille. Remarkably, the vines date back to 1881 and are still planted on original Pie Franco rootstocks thanks to the higher proportion of sand in the upper section of the vineyard. Aromatically open and suave, the 2017 leaps from the glass with soft strawberry, cherry and cassis notes. Silky, plummy flavours, soft velvety tannins and chocolatey notes emerge and produce and beautifully measured Bierzo with no hard edges and just a very fine acid thread. Immediately approachable. Fermented in large wooden vats on the skins for up to 90 days before maturation in neutral 500L casks and 225L barrique.
critic reviews
I love the 2021 La Vizcaina La Vitoriana, where they use the westernmost part of the vineyard with more sand in the soils, mostly north facing. It's a wine with a floral nose that is aromatic and perfumed, elegant but with clout, with concentration and power. They have been picking earlier and earlier, lowering the alcohol, and they feel more comfortable below 13%; they removed the rusticity and extraction, and the wine is more elegant than ever. It reminds me of the 2018, with similar a profile of freshness. They produced around 5,000 liters from the one+ hectare they have here.