Bodegas y Vinedos Castro Ventosa de Valtuille Valtuille Cepas Centenarias, Bierzo, Spain

卡斯特羅文托薩酒莊瓦圖伊百年老藤紅葡萄酒

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The old-vine cuvée 2021 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias was their first grand vin in 1999, but in 2021 it comes from a single vineyard in Mata Los Pardos on clay and sandy soils planted with the usual Mencía field blend of the older vineyards. It fermented with 30% full clusters and indigenous yeasts in oak vat with a 60-day maceration and matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. It has a moderate 12.52% alcohol and balanced acidity. This is really complex and harmonious, a little more austere than Villegas or Rapolao, perhaps a little more rustic, with an earthy touch. 4,100 bottles and 36 magnums produced. It was bottled in June 2023.

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 2019 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias comes from a single plot of ancient vines that could qualify as Vino de Paraje and in the future as Vino de Vi?a, but they are never going to do it because it's their traditional name and label and one of the most consistent wines from the winery. It is made with field blend with lots of different grapes on clay and sand soils. It fermented with full clusters and indigenous yeasts with a long 60-day maceration and matured in 225- and 500-liter oak barrels (but, in the future, they might move to oval oak foudres) for one year. It has the violets and the perfume from the 2018 vintage but with more dimension, more layers and depth. A stellar performance in 2019 (again!). 3,500 bottles produced, what the plot delivered. It was bottled in June 2021.

The floral 2018 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias is the next vintage after the 2015, as no 2016 or 2017 could be produced. This has a Northern Rh?ne nose that mixes violets and smoked meat, very showy. The palate is seamless and refined, with very fine, silky tannins. Like many of their wines, 2018 could very well be the finest vintage of this wine to date. This has much lower alcohol (13.2%) and more acidity. In 2018, they used all the white grapes from one of the plots, which could be a significant 6% of white grapes, and also some 5% Merenzao, so the wine is somewhat more fluid and nuanced. The two plots used for this wine are in the paraje of Matalospardos in Valtuille. This is the most complete and complex of the 2018s. 3,500 bottles and 36 magnums were filled in early May 2020.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the elegance and balance of the 2015 Valtuille Cepas Centenarias, centenary Mencía from two plots in the village of Valtuille. This is always one of the finest wines in the portfolio, but this 2015 was especially harmonious, combining aromas of violets and wild herbs with an earthy touch and a medium-bodied palate with very refined tannins that made it beautifully textured. There is an extra degree of complexity here and it has the depth of the very old vines. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this bottling. There are 3,500 bottles of it.