Ultreia de Valtuille, Bierzo, 2020

“My best wine in 2020 – it’s so pure and clean and direct!” So says Raul Perez, and that is high praise indeed from this modest, quietly spoken winemaker. It’s hard to compare this to other recent vintages, until now 2018 has been the benchmark for this cuvee and only time will tell as to which eventually wins out. In any case, the 2020 is a must-have wine and will drink well over the next two decades. A wine of red fruit, bristling clarity and energy, more freshness and red fruit after the suave yet quite powerful 2019. Blackberries crushed black cherries, redcurrant and strawberries the ’20 is transparent but with real depth too. Produced from 120 year-old vines in the Las Villegas vineyard. The site is essentially one contiguous bank separated in to 7 different plots with different expositions. Raúl’s main plot is in the higher east-southeast facing part of the vineyard at 530-575m elevation, which is better exposed to cooling northern breezes, as well as a small parcel of more northerly facing vines, bringing his total ownership to 2HA of the 6HA in total. Las Villegas was the first vineyard replanted after phylloxera, and it produces deeply complex, salty stony wines with immense fragrancy and concentration. Sandy soil atop very hard bedrock.