Ultreia de Valtuille, Bierzo, 2022

Fragrant notes of red cherry and herbs – bullace and damson and earth, with, in 2022, sweet tannins and a gentle rising quality. Smooth-fruited and easy to taste with spice and stones, this has a supple feel, very smart, with just a touch of barrel supporting sweetness – before tapering in to a steelier, more mineral finish. 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 north facing vines, bringing his total ownership to 2HA of the 6HA in total. Las Villegas was the first vineyard replanted after phylloxera in the late 1880s and it produces deeply complex, salty stony wines with immense fragrancy and concentration. Sandy soil atop very hard bedrock.