2020 Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias
| Type of Wine | Red |
|---|---|
| Country | Spain |
| Region | |
| Appellation | Bierzo (Appellation) |
| Winery | |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Grape | |
| Content (Alc) | 0.75 ltr (13.5%) |
| Drink window | 2023 - 2032 |
Description
Take the fruitiness of Pinot Noir and the invigoratingness of Syrah and you have a good MencĂa. The Mencia grapes are aged for 11 months in French oak (95% new) before being bottled. In addition, this beauty has also had several months of bottle aging. The 2020 Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias from Raul Perez is a super complex and complete wine. Inky black with drifting aromas of continental flavor as well as black pepper, coffee and sweet cherry. Minuscule reduction and fine wood notes, very slightly toasted. Strong and elongated flavor structure that needs time. Both opulent fruit that hides a lot of complexity and minerals that come to the fore, especially after ripening. Long finale. 97/100 Parker
RaĂşl PĂ©rez is without a doubt the most medial winemaker in all of Spain at the moment. However, his wines are almost impossible to find! Everyone talks about it, but few have tasted it yet. RaĂşl is present in numerous appellations and regions, not only in Spain, but also in South Africa, Portugal, South America. The common thread in his work is the recovery of vieilles vignes from native grape varieties and the making of authentic wines with lots of character and personality. Or to put it in his own words: 'I'd rather make an undrinkably bad Galician wine, but at least let it be a Galician wine.' He has already vinified dozens of wines in countless different regions (usually in the northwest of Spain, and beyond), but these have never been marketed. He tests, he tries, and often fails. This way of working naturally gives him a lot of experience, which will later enable him to get the most out of one grape variety or one region.
Today he makes or helps make more than 80 wines. Finally, he has recently more or less settled down by renovating two mini-bodegas of his own: one in the Tierra de LeĂłn region, in the village of Valdevimbre, and another in his native region of Bierzo, where he has his business in the village of Salas de los Barrios. own Ultreia's, the absolute essence of MencĂa. RaĂşl always works as purely as possible. He uses the minimum amount of SO2. He releases the wines from his family project under the name: Castro Ventosa
In all the wines RaĂşl makes, he works with as little intervention as possible. For the red, entire bunches are used and vinified in old barrels. Nothing is added or corrected. The wine is then aged, again in old barrels and also under flor (so the barrels are not refilled). This flor gives the wine natural protection against oxidation during elevage and avoids the addition of sulfites. This flor is naturally present in the Ultreia cellars and RaĂşl uses it for both his white and red wines!
Specifications
| Block Bundle Options | No |
|---|---|
| Type of Wine | Red |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Castilla y Leon |
| Appellation | Bierzo (Appellation) |
| Winery | Raul Perez |
| Grape | Mencia |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Drinking as of | 2023 |
| Drinking till | 2032 |
| Alcohol % | 13.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 97 |
| Tasting Profiles | Earthy, Rustic, Complex, Dark fruit, Dry, Tannines, Full |
| Drink moments | Barbecue, Cadeau!, Lekker luxe, Met vrienden, Open haard, Romantisch |
Professional Reviews
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 97
Reviewed by:
Luis Gutiérrez
Release Price:
$90
Drink Date:
2023 - 2032
The 2020 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias, a wine from only one plot since 2018, showed extremely well in 2020, the finest in the vintage together with the La Vitoriana, almost as good as the amazing 2021. The Matalospardos zone of the village is where the soils mix sand and clay, and a corner of the plot delivered some 2,000 kilograms out of the 6,000 kilograms of grapes from the whole vineyard, which has a lot of white grapes and results in very good finesse in the wine. It matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels for 12 months. 3,800 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in January 2022.
The family project from Raúl Pérez is, like many in Bierzo, focuses on site-specific wines from village, lieu-dit or paraje and single vineyard. They are developing more of those for the future in their village of Valtuille, where they have 85 of their 86 hectares of vineyards; the other one is a Godello vineyard in the village of Cabañas Raras. Since 2021, the single-vineyard white is already labeled as Valtuille "El Val" (vino de paraje) with the idea to take it to the top of the hierarchy, as it is a single plot from one of the coldest areas of the town. They produce between 200,000 and 300,000 bottles, depending on the vintage. After a very dry 2020, 2021 was a cooler year with more rain and even snow, and the whites have very good freshness and the reds elegant and with finesse. It could be the finest vintage of recent times, comparable to 2018.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
Wijnhuis
RaĂşl PĂ©rez is without a doubt the most mediatic winemaker in all of Spain today. However, his wines are almost impossible to find! Everyone talks about it, but few have already tasted them. RaĂşl is present in numerous appellations and regions, not only in Spain, but also in South Africa, Portugal, South America.
We have been following RaĂşl since 2000; at that time he was still working as an oenologist at the Castro Ventosa family estate in Valtuille de Abajo. He also worked as an oenologist-consultant for other domains in Bierzo. He refined the Mencia to unprecedented heights, also helped Ricardo and Alvaro Palacios start their top domain, while constantly tasting and trying other wines from around the world. RaĂşl is a restless nature and his curiosity and passion take him further and further.
Between 2005 and 2007 he left the family domain and left for a wine odyssey. In a few years he made a name for himself and became a real 'star' in the wine world. The common thread in his work is the recovery of vieilles vignes from indigenous grape varieties and the making of authentic wines with a lot of character and personality. Or to put it in his own words, "I'd rather make an undrinkably bad Galician wine, but at least let it be a Galician wine." He has therefore already vinified dozens of wines in countless different regions (mostly in the northwest of Spain, and also beyond), but which have never been marketed. He tests, he tries, and often fails. Of course, this way of working brings him a lot of experience, with which he will later be able to get the most out of one grape variety or one region.
Today he makes or contributes to more than 80 wines. In the end, he more or less settled himself by renovating two of his own mini-bodegas: one in the Tierra de LeĂłn region, in the village of Valdevimbre, and another in his native Bierzo, where he is in the village of Salas de los Barrios. own Ultreia's, the absolute essence of MencĂa. RaĂşl always works organically and as pure as possible. It uses the minimum of SO2. The wines we get from him are always in minimal quantities and we hardly ever know what we are going to get, from what year and how much ... That is RaĂşl in all.
Take the fruitiness of Pinot Noir and the invigoratingness of Syrah and you have a good MencĂa. The Mencia grapes are aged for 11 months in French oak (95% new) before being bottled. In addition, this beauty has also had several months of bottle aging. The 2020 Castro Ventosa Valtuille Cepas Centenarias from Raul Perez is a super complex and complete wine. Inky black with drifting aromas of continental flavor as well as black pepper, coffee and sweet cherry. Minuscule reduction and fine wood notes, very slightly toasted. Strong and elongated flavor structure that needs time. Both opulent fruit that hides a lot of complexity and minerals that come to the fore, especially after ripening. Long finale. 97/100 Parker
RaĂşl PĂ©rez is without a doubt the most medial winemaker in all of Spain at the moment. However, his wines are almost impossible to find! Everyone talks about it, but few have tasted it yet. RaĂşl is present in numerous appellations and regions, not only in Spain, but also in South Africa, Portugal, South America. The common thread in his work is the recovery of vieilles vignes from native grape varieties and the making of authentic wines with lots of character and personality. Or to put it in his own words: 'I'd rather make an undrinkably bad Galician wine, but at least let it be a Galician wine.' He has already vinified dozens of wines in countless different regions (usually in the northwest of Spain, and beyond), but these have never been marketed. He tests, he tries, and often fails. This way of working naturally gives him a lot of experience, which will later enable him to get the most out of one grape variety or one region.
Today he makes or helps make more than 80 wines. Finally, he has recently more or less settled down by renovating two mini-bodegas of his own: one in the Tierra de LeĂłn region, in the village of Valdevimbre, and another in his native region of Bierzo, where he has his business in the village of Salas de los Barrios. own Ultreia's, the absolute essence of MencĂa. RaĂşl always works as purely as possible. He uses the minimum amount of SO2. He releases the wines from his family project under the name: Castro Ventosa
In all the wines RaĂşl makes, he works with as little intervention as possible. For the red, entire bunches are used and vinified in old barrels. Nothing is added or corrected. The wine is then aged, again in old barrels and also under flor (so the barrels are not refilled). This flor gives the wine natural protection against oxidation during elevage and avoids the addition of sulfites. This flor is naturally present in the Ultreia cellars and RaĂşl uses it for both his white and red wines!
| Block Bundle Options | No |
|---|---|
| Type of Wine | Red |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Castilla y Leon |
| Appellation | Bierzo (Appellation) |
| Winery | Raul Perez |
| Grape | Mencia |
| Biological certified | No |
| Natural wine | No |
| Vegan | No |
| Vintage | 2020 |
| Drinking as of | 2023 |
| Drinking till | 2032 |
| Alcohol % | 13.5 |
| Alcohol free/low | No |
| Content | 0.75 ltr |
| Oak aging | Yes |
| Sparkling | No |
| Dessert wine | No |
| Closure | Cork |
| Parker rating | 97 |
| Tasting Profiles | Earthy, Rustic, Complex, Dark fruit, Dry, Tannines, Full |
| Drink moments | Barbecue, Cadeau!, Lekker luxe, Met vrienden, Open haard, Romantisch |
Parker
The Wine Advocate
RP 97
Reviewed by:
Luis Gutiérrez
Release Price:
$90
Drink Date:
2023 - 2032
The 2020 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias, a wine from only one plot since 2018, showed extremely well in 2020, the finest in the vintage together with the La Vitoriana, almost as good as the amazing 2021. The Matalospardos zone of the village is where the soils mix sand and clay, and a corner of the plot delivered some 2,000 kilograms out of the 6,000 kilograms of grapes from the whole vineyard, which has a lot of white grapes and results in very good finesse in the wine. It matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels for 12 months. 3,800 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in January 2022.
The family project from Raúl Pérez is, like many in Bierzo, focuses on site-specific wines from village, lieu-dit or paraje and single vineyard. They are developing more of those for the future in their village of Valtuille, where they have 85 of their 86 hectares of vineyards; the other one is a Godello vineyard in the village of Cabañas Raras. Since 2021, the single-vineyard white is already labeled as Valtuille "El Val" (vino de paraje) with the idea to take it to the top of the hierarchy, as it is a single plot from one of the coldest areas of the town. They produce between 200,000 and 300,000 bottles, depending on the vintage. After a very dry 2020, 2021 was a cooler year with more rain and even snow, and the whites have very good freshness and the reds elegant and with finesse. It could be the finest vintage of recent times, comparable to 2018.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua...
Exclusive Content
Sign in to unlock professional wine reviews from world-renowned critics
RaĂşl PĂ©rez is without a doubt the most mediatic winemaker in all of Spain today. However, his wines are almost impossible to find! Everyone talks about it, but few have already tasted them. RaĂşl is present in numerous appellations and regions, not only in Spain, but also in South Africa, Portugal, South America.
We have been following RaĂşl since 2000; at that time he was still working as an oenologist at the Castro Ventosa family estate in Valtuille de Abajo. He also worked as an oenologist-consultant for other domains in Bierzo. He refined the Mencia to unprecedented heights, also helped Ricardo and Alvaro Palacios start their top domain, while constantly tasting and trying other wines from around the world. RaĂşl is a restless nature and his curiosity and passion take him further and further.
Between 2005 and 2007 he left the family domain and left for a wine odyssey. In a few years he made a name for himself and became a real 'star' in the wine world. The common thread in his work is the recovery of vieilles vignes from indigenous grape varieties and the making of authentic wines with a lot of character and personality. Or to put it in his own words, "I'd rather make an undrinkably bad Galician wine, but at least let it be a Galician wine." He has therefore already vinified dozens of wines in countless different regions (mostly in the northwest of Spain, and also beyond), but which have never been marketed. He tests, he tries, and often fails. Of course, this way of working brings him a lot of experience, with which he will later be able to get the most out of one grape variety or one region.
Today he makes or contributes to more than 80 wines. In the end, he more or less settled himself by renovating two of his own mini-bodegas: one in the Tierra de LeĂłn region, in the village of Valdevimbre, and another in his native Bierzo, where he is in the village of Salas de los Barrios. own Ultreia's, the absolute essence of MencĂa. RaĂşl always works organically and as pure as possible. It uses the minimum of SO2. The wines we get from him are always in minimal quantities and we hardly ever know what we are going to get, from what year and how much ... That is RaĂşl in all.
Follow the latest news about all our wines, promotions, and new selections. 