Ultreia de Paluezas, Bierzo, 2021
Ultreia de Paluezas is a single plot in the south-western part of the Bierzo on the border with Valdeorras where the soils are chalk and limestone dominated. An area in decline, once dominated by co-operatives, Raúl has put in a huge amount of work to recover this formerly abandoned 100-year-old vineyard and the results shine through.
critic reviews
The Ultreia bottling that called my attention from the moment the wines were poured is the 2021 Ultreia Paluezas. I've only tasted a couple of vintages of this before, but Raul Perez remembers that it has called my attention every time. The distinct feature here is that the plot has limestone soils, which are very rare in Bierzo, and the majority of the place is on slate soils. So, this has the special finesse and elegance of the limestone, and it's perfumed and elegant and has a velvety palate with very fine, chalky tannins. This is now more Burgundian than Rhone, from a cool year with very perfumed reds. This is from only 0.4 hectares or so, and it even has a small part with Palomino; he produces one 225-liter barrel and a 500-liter one.