Raúl Pérez

Raúl Pérez is widely regarded as one of the world’s most talented, innovative, and restless winemakers. His constant reinvention of his own portfolio and quest to restore old Bierzo vineyards since breaking away from his family estate Castro Ventosa in 2004, not to mention an extensive roster of consultancy projects around the world, has helped significantly in putting this corner of north-western Spain back on the map. In doing so, Pérez has inspired legions of young winemakers to follow in his footsteps, and yet he remains humble and softly-spoken. As many commentators have noted, there is no “Raúl Pérez” style, instead his beautiful Godellos and Mencia-based reds seek only to express their origins and push the boundaries of quality within the region, with Pérez adapting the winemaking to suit each individual parcel of vines. The only constant is a hands-off philosophy that allows natural fermentations to take place in traditional wooden vats with whole bunches in the case of the reds, and aging in neutral casks of varying sizes. The two regional wines Ultreia Godello and Ultreia Saint Jacques are some of the most exciting entry-level wines we have ever come across, while the mid-level La Vizcaina de Vinos range spotlights five single vineyards in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, the heart of the Bierzo region. The small batch Ultreia bottlings are rare birds indeed, often representing no more than a barrel or two from tiny, special plots, and as such are not necessarily produced every year. Put together, the Raúl Pérez stable is a big and at times complicated range, but one thing is for sure; the wines will never disappoint.

Wine Making

It is the complexity of winemaking that Raul Pérez has always emphasized, strongly believing in the tradition of co-fermentation and hands-off winemaking. His skill lies first and foremost in his intuitive understanding of the vineyards. Additionally, Pérez’s ability to produce wines of elegance and freshness from quite rustic grape varieties sets him apart from his peers. Finesse is achieved through careful attention to picking dates, with harvesting typically taking place over a period of a month or more.

In The Cellar

whole bunch fermentation is the key technique, aimed at retaining freshness and character. Extended skin contact follows, in some cases lasting up to three months, with no punch-downs or pump-overs at all. Everything is manual and low-tech – fermentations occur without temperature control or the addition of any sulphur. The reds rest for a year in neutral barrels with no sulphur addition during the élevage and no racking whatsoever. There is no bâtonnage in the whites. The wines are simply left undisturbed before being blended and bottled when the barrels are at their best, without fining or filtration.

The Ultreia Collection

Ultreia, Godello

As new vineyards come into production, the primary white wine of the project is now produced predominantly from estate fruit, mostly from the eastern part of the Bierzo zone. The vines, which average 30-35 years old, are grown on schist and clay soils. Harvest here takes place a full 20 days later than in Valtuille, resulting in grapes with high natural acidity and only 11-12% potential alcohol, making for excellent blending material. 25% of the grapes are sourced from Cacabelos on deeper clay-stony soils, and the final 25% comes from Valtuille, where the vineyards are sandier. All plots are fermented in oak tanks and assembled just before bottling. Aging takes place in barrels of various sizes and ages.

Ultreia, La Claudina

Produced from a relatively flat 0.5-ha parcel of vines with a south-southeast orientation on sandy soils in Valtuille, La Claudina is a warm site that yields wines with roundness and complexity. The vines are now 50 years old. Normally, Raul encourages the development of a layer of flor over the wine, but this is harder to achieve in vintages with a low pH. Production averages just 1,500-2,000 bottles a year.

Ultreia, Saint Jacques

“Saint Jacques is by far the most important wine I make,” says Raul Pérez. This wine is crafted from old-vine material sourced from all over Bierzo, primarily from clay and sand-based sites (roughly 85% clay, 15% sand). It is fermented in traditional oak vats (ex-Vega Sicilia) with 80% whole bunches and kept on the skins for two months before pressing into neutral barrels for a further 10 months of aging. While Mencia is the base of the wine, it also includes smaller proportions of Alicante Bouschet, Trousseau, Palomino, and other wild grapes, depending on the natural field composition. This wine is considered one of Spain’s most exciting entry-level wines and is named after the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, which passes through the Bierzo region.

Ultreia de Valtuille

The most famous of the Ultreia single vineyards, Ultreia de Valtuille 2021 shows a refined blend of graphite, red fruits, flowers, stones, and powdered earth, with a firm, concentrated core. This wine has gained weight and stature post-bottling, presenting a more serious profile that will benefit from a decade or so in the cellar. It is produced from 120-year-old vines in the Las Villegas vineyard. The site consists of seven distinct plots with different exposures, with Raul’s main plot located in the higher east-southeast facing part of the vineyard at 530-575m elevation. This location is better exposed to cooling northern breezes, adding to the wine's complexity. Las Villegas was the first vineyard replanted after phylloxera, and it produces deeply complex, salty, stony wines with immense fragrance and concentration.

Ultreia, Cova de la Raposa

Cova de la Raposa, or "The Foxhole," is a wine produced only in exceptional years. It comes from a tiny 0.2-ha warm, steep single plot in Valtuille planted on compact, sandy clay-rich soils at 500-550m elevation, fully south-facing. The vineyard is very old, totaling 1.1ha, with Palomino as the dominant variety. Raul’s family estate (Castro Ventosa) owns 0.5ha, while the rest is split among three other owners, showcasing how fragmented and Burgundy-like Bierzo vineyard ownership can be. The wine is a blend of 90% Mencia and 10% Bastardo. The south exposition and richer soils produce ripe, tannin-driven wines, lending shape and definition to this lavish wine. Just one ex-Hermitage barrel of 500L was produced, equating to 600 bottles.

Ultreia, El Rapolao

El Rapolao is the vineyard drawing the most local interest among Bierzo producers. Raul is the majority owner, with approximately half of the 6ha vineyard. Since 2020, the Ultreia Rapolao bottling includes an additional 0.2ha that was taken away from the Pérez family during the Spanish Civil War and was finally purchased back in 2019. This has brought the Ultreia Rapolao bottling to 0.5ha, producing about 1,500 bottles. The vines, some of which are 120 years old, are a field blend of Mencia, Trousseau, and Alicante Bouschet. This vineyard yields 3,000kg per hectare on average, about half of what the La Vizcaina bottling produces.

Ultreia de Paluezas

Ultreia de Paluezas is produced only occasionally from a single plot located in the southwestern part of Bierzo, on the border with Valdeorras. The soils here are dominated by chalk and limestone. Once a region largely controlled by co-operatives, Raúl has put in substantial effort to revive this formerly abandoned 100-year-old vineyard. The results are truly remarkable.

Ultreia, Villegas

New to the Ultreia range is Ultreia Villegas. This wine is made from a single parcel of particularly sandy soils that exhibited a distinctively expressive, perfumed profile. Raul decided to bottle it as a standalone wine, making it one of the standout wines of the vintage. Produced from over 100-year-old vines, Ultreia Villegas is an incredibly refined Mencia, offering a balance of intensity, drinkability, and intellectual satisfaction. It is a wine that demands patience, as its potential will fully unfold over time.

Ultreia, Petra

Petra is sourced from a 0.3ha plot planted between 1925 and 1930, situated on the high, cool Ponferrada side of Bierzo. The soils here are slate-rich, and the vineyard is located at an elevation of 825m in a subzone called Valdecanada. Petra is only bottled in exceptional vintages, and the 2021 release may be the last from this site. The plan is to incorporate it into the newly created Valdecanada range, where it will be sold at a higher price point to reflect the labor-intensive work required. The wine is characterized by its crisp, direct profile, with the cooler climate lending tight tannins that require longer aging to round out.

Ultreia, La Vitoriana

Ultreia La Vitoriana comes from one of the most distinctive vineyards in Valtuille, a steep half-pipe-shaped site with vines that are over 120 years old, planted on Pie Franco rootstocks. Located at 600m elevation, the vineyard faces north on very stony, poor soils. This wine has a higher acidity and is known for its precision and focus. With its long, concentrated finish, Ultreia La Vitoriana is a true vin de garde, showcasing the magic of this exceptional vineyard.

Ultreia Saint James’s Bottling

Rather like Pérez himself, the wine is a complete one-off and has its own distinct identity and energy. Conceptualised and blended in partnership with Mark Dearing, Justerini & Brooks’ Spain buyer, the name riffs off Pérez’s flagship red wine Ultreia Saint Jacques (named after the pilgrimage of Camino de Santiago, which passes through Bierzo) and London’s St James’s Street, our spiritual home.

A limited edition run of only 900 bottles, our wine blends Mencia (80%) and a whole host of other indigenous grape varieties. The base hails from Pérez’s home village of Valtuille de Abajo, with 68% of the blend taken from two plots: Cabanelas, an east-facing site planted in 1930 on clay and sandy soils; and the north facing La Vitoriana, one of the region’s greatest sites whose vines not only date back to 1881 but also remain on their original rootstocks.

The secret ingredient, however, is the schist-rich sub-region of Valdecañada. This historic but lesser-known subregion comprises some of the area’s highest vineyards. It is an area that Pérez has been working hard to recuperate and bring acclaim to after years of abandonment, owing to its challenging location and hard labour required to manage the vineyards. 23% of the blend comes from three schist-rich sites, while the top 9% of the blend, is the prized single vineyard El Cerro from a 2 year old barrel, which adds a whole new level of concentration, minerality and focus to the wine.

From the lovely 2020 vintage, Ultreia Saint James’s is laced with violets, cherries and wild blue fruits plus a trace of smoke and schist, with further herbs, salt and red berries jostling for space on the palate. In keeping with the Pérez style, all the individual components were fermented with 100% whole bunches and raised in used 500L French oak barrels for 14 months. Though approachable now, the wine has all the material to develop handsomely over the next ten to fifteen years.

Mark Dearing explained that “Raúl is famous for his collaborative approach and celebrated around the world for his undiluted, authentic worldview of wine and its place. The Ultreia Saint James’s project has been three years in the making and it’s been an enormous privilege to work with one of the world’s greatest winemakers to put together a wine of which we’re all really proud.”

The La Vizcaina de Vinos Collection

La del Vivo, La Vizcaina de Vinos

Produced from two plots, one in La Poulosa planted in 1936 and one in the village of Cacabelos, new in 2020, this wine is a blend of 95% Godello and 5% Dona Blanca.

El Rapolao, La Vizcaina de Vinos

El Rapolao is increasingly recognized as Valtuille’s official Grand Cru. Raul owns the largest holdings in Rapolao, and it has become the most labeled single-vineyard wine in Bierzo. This wine is celebrated for its complexity and depth, always balanced by freshness. Raul’s two plots, located at mid-slope and lower elevations (averaging 550m), produce a wine with a balance of salinity, perfume, silkiness, and style. It is fermented whole-bunch in wood and aged for 12 months in neutral 500L French casks.

Las Gundiñas, La Vizcaina de Vinos Las Gundiñas adapts year to year, producing a wine with a supple style and a core of truffley sweet earth. This southeast-facing vineyard, planted on clay-heavy soils at 450-500m, yields a wine that is fuller-bodied with ripe tannins.

Poulosa, La Vizcaina de Vinos

La Poulosa typically produces a round and charming wine with notes of blue and red fruits. It is known for its smooth mouthfeel and overall harmony, thanks to the cool, low-yielding vines.

Vintages of Raul Perez

2016 VINTAGE

We are delighted to welcome Raul Perez to the Justerini & Brooks portfolio. To many, he will need no introduction, for Perez is variously lauded as Spain’s most talented, innovative and restless winemaker. His constant reinvention of his own portfolio and quest to restore old vineyards since breaking away from his family estate Castro Ventosa in 2004, has truly revolutionised this corner of north-western Spain. Our offer today focuses on two Bierzo ranges; Ultreia, the original Raul Perez project, and La Vizcaina de Vinos, a later project which explores Valtuille del Abajo’s best single vineyards. Valtuille is the central village in Bierzo, with an enviable spread of old vines and immensely complex terroirs. It comprises just 10% of the total vineyard area but is arguably the most sought after. Viticulture in Bierzo is unique, as vineyards are planted to Mencia dominated field-blends with various co-plantings of Bastardo (also known as Merenzao and Trousseau), Brancellao, Alicante Bouchet (also known as Garnacha Tintorera), Godello, Palomino, Malvasia and Dona Blanca

2017 VINTAGE

2017 is a warmer, softer styled year producing, in the hands of Raúl Pérez, some truly stunning, soulful wines that will provide an enormous amount of early drinking pleasure and should not be overlooked

Since the inaugural 2011 vintage, Raúl Pérez’s La Vizcaina de Vinos has established itself as arguably the highest quality, best value single vineyard range in Spain. Each wine reflects an individual terroir within the historic village of Valtuille de Abajo, the heart of the Bierzo region, and is produced from small plots and incredibly old vines of up to 140 years old and elevations that range from 500m to 650m, each with a different exposition and soil composition. The reputation and insatiable demand for the La Vizcaina wines belies their modest price tag, and they have quickly become some of the most compelling, traditional old world wines in the Justerini & Brooks portfolio. Produced with a philosophy of minimal intervention, they are fermented with wild yeasts and whole clusters in wooden vats with no temperature control, and are aged purely in neutral barrels of varying sizes. Raúl’s aim is never to imprint upon the wines he insists, but instead, to allow them to shine.

For in 2017, the wines capture the spirit of a warmer vintage with soft textures, beautifully suave, velvety tannins and layers of sumptuous fruit. The white La del Vivo 2018, released a year ahead of the reds is an electrifying Godello-Dona Blanca blend, primarily sourced from 80 year-old vines in La Poulosa with a drop of centenarian fruit from Las Villegas thrown in (the source of Raul’s famous Ultreia de Valtuille), is the best vintage we have tasted so far. Racy but poised, with a flinty, salty profile, citrus and stone fruit, and bags of energy, it will appeal to lovers of superior Cote d’Or and Loire Valley whites, at a snip of the price. Given that the whole range is available at under £100 per six bottles in bond, we recommend buying two or three different cases and opening bottles side-by-side to compare. The good news is that while young bottles can easily be enjoyed over three or four days, so there’s no need to rush them - would that restraint so easily be counted upon!

2018 VINTAGE

2018 is unquestionably the finest vintage seen in the past 25-30 years in this part of Northern Spain, a year where vintage conditions and technical improvements in the cellar conspired to produce a breathtaking collection of wines, with scores to boot. We are also happy to re-offer the 2017 La Vizcaina de Vinos range, first released in May.

When I asked Raúl for his thoughts on the vintage, his response was clear: “2018 is the best vintage of the past 25-30 years.” Moderate conditions in the north of Spain produced grapes with good acidity and balanced alcohols. Harvest began in the first week of September for the whites and the second week for the reds; a return to traditional timelines after August harvests in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2018, he said, “we could wait for the perfect moment for each plot. In most years we get most of our rainfall in March and April, but in 2018 we had small but regular intervals of rain in every month, which helped the vines to relax, and veraison took place very quickly, in just 7-8 days. We had time to decide when to pick, knowing that even when we went for a fresh, early-picked style of white, for example, under-ripeness was not going to be an issue. It is the first time in a long time that uniformly high quality allowed me to bottle all the wines I love.”

2019 VINTAGE

Raul Perez is the man at the helm of Spain’s “Northern Orchestra”. Having almost single-handedly put Bierzo on the map, Raul’s guru-like status (and appearance!) is one that has inspired a whole generation of young dynamic winemakers across the entirety of Spain. It is with enormous privilege that Justerini & Brooks represents the RP stable exclusively in the UK, proudly extolling the virtues of the wonderful La Vizcaina de Vinos and Castro Candaz projects as truly inspiring, complex thirst-quenching wines that have helped to set the tone for what we believe is the most exciting area of Spain.

In his heart though, it is Ultreia that gets Raul’s pulse racing. Where Castro Candaz speaks to the precision and beauty of the granite-dominated zone of La Chantada in Ribeira Sacra, and La Vizcaina dials in to the most delicious and celebrated plots of Valtuille de Abajo (in Bierzo), it is with Ultreia that Raul Perez’s “Midas Touch” reaches its apogee. Rarely exceeding more than a barrel or two of production, save for the veritable Grand Cru that is Ultreia de Valtuille, these breathtaking wines have done more to define the potential of northern Spain than almost any other wines, anywhere. From the compact sandy soils of Cova da le Raposa, the slate of Petra, chalk of Paluezas, and the hard sandy limestone of Ultreia de Valtuille, this is a collection that stands shoulder to shoulder with the best of Bordeaux, the Rhone and Piedmont, with Raul putting the entire Bierzo appellation under a microscope and flying the flag for what he believes are the most enticing and individual vineyards. Both red and white, the 2019s convey a feeling of sumptuous, structured complexity that ultimately needs to be tasted to be believed.

The Vintage

“We consider 2019 a really strong vintage in Bierzo. Initially we thought the wines would have a warm, powerful character but in the end they have a different sensation. Where 2017 had a warmer vintage profile, compounded by frosts which reduced yields, and 2018 was a late harvest resulting in wines of freshness and purity, 2019 has a beautiful roundness, with complete, deep complex fruit and a great deal of tension and acidity in the wines too. They are definitely ageworthy and need a few more years in bottle. When it comes to white wines, we intentionally picked very early in order to keep acidities high and alcohols low – that decision has produced very lively, intense wines that have a good balance of fruitiness and minerality. The harvest began in August and lasted forty five days in total. As always, we adapt the picking date and winemaking to suit the character of each plot, and what’s more, I have a few new projects up my sleeve that I hope to be able to release in the next year or two…” – Raúl Pérez

2020 VINTAGE

In our view, 2020 is a gorgeous vintage in Bierzo and a more than worthy follow up to the deep, complex, sumptuous 2019s. Where the 2019s still have a concentrated, serious feel to them that will require a bit of patience, the 2020s have a grace and fluidity to them with lacier, more approachable tannins. This is a vintage which has produced wines with all the measure and taper of Bierzo at its best. In Raúl Pérez’s words, “there are wines this year, like Ultreia de Valtuille which I consider up there with the best wines I have ever made. The mildew pressure we experienced early in the season reduced our yields and the warm summer forced us to harvest early, anticipating higher alcohols. In the end though, the conversion was really nice and moderate, so we have very well balanced wines averaging 13% across the board. 2020 was unusual insofar as many of the earlier ripening plots needed more hang time than the cooler sites and this has resulted in well-structured wines but with a ripeness and finesse to the tannin that we don’t always achieve. For this reason, I reduced the maceration times a bit. The wines were showing beautiful fruit, structures and perfumes – I didn’t need to wait any longer.” This is an unmissable collection for anybody enticed by the best of contemporary Spanish wine. All of the wines will reward cellaring but for those who enjoy complex, immensely characterful wines in the first flush of youth, it would not be a criminal offence to enjoy a few young bottles of Ultreia, leaving the rest to age. Unfortunately, there is no Petra or Paluezas this year.

2021 VINTAGE

Few winemakers rival the sense of instinct and restlessness that pervades brand Raúl Pérez. “Brand” here is no reference to stylisation, self-promotion nor commercial success, but rather what Luis Gutierrez aptly describes as “the long shadow of Raúl Pérez” in The Wine Advocate, August 2023.. His distinction amongst his winemaking peers and first-name fame in all corners of Spain – in a country not short on Raúls, is the well-earned result of two decades of pioneering vineyard work and masterful blending. He has put his home village of Valtuille de Abajo on the map, to the extent that the community unveiled “Calle Del Enologo Raúl Pérez” in recognition of his work in summer 2023. But if you catch him in a quiet moment, he’ll tell you that those achievements are eclipsed by his experience mentoring some of Bierzo and Galicia’s most talented young producers. Time spent with Raúl is time spent getting to grips with the region as a whole.

The Vintage

2021 sits in a cluster of cooler-styled, highly perfumed vintages alongside 2018, 2016 and 2014. A year marked by regular rainfall which required work to stave off mildew pressures in the vineyards, with few heat spikes, the results are positively thrilling. Low alcohols, enhanced freshness and clear terroir characteristics, this is an unmissable collection for anybody enticed by the best of contemporary Spanish wine. All of the wines will reward cellaring but for those who enjoy tasting complex, fruit-forward wines in the first flush of youth, there is pleasure to be had in drinking a few young bottles of Ultreia crus, leaving the rest to age. The flagship regional wine of the estate Ultreia Saint Jacques is produced with exactly this in mind.

2022 Vintage

Raúl considers 2022 to be an open and even-keeled vintage, which has produced transparent and delicious wines from the get-go, likening the vintage to 2020 with a bit more polish and roundness. Indeed, these 2022s have a real purity of fruit to them with a more urbane tannic structure than we have seen in recent years. They are a delight to taste young, with medium-bodied, sleek, healthy and sculpted fruits, delivered with Ultreia’s hallmark sense of energy, depth and persistence; qualities that can only come from working truly special vineyards.

2022 benefited from a stable and even water supply throughout the year, totalling 850mm, bang on the long-term average, which prepared the soils perfectly for the warm and dry August and September months. Harvest began in the central Bierzo zones of Valtuille and Cacabelos at the end of August – an early start – and was wrapped up quickly after just three weeks with no major issues to report. The cooler, higher subzones of Viariz, Ponferrada and Valdecanada were picked a few weeks later, around the end of September, by which point ripeness had ticked up quickly. Alcohols in the Ultreia range sit at the usual 13.5%.

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