Raul Perez - Ultreia Cova de la Raposa 2021

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Village: Valtuille de Abajo / Vineyard: La Cova de la Raposa (trans. “Cave of the Fox”) / Year of plantation: End of 19th century / Hectares: 0.1 / Altitude: 590 meters ASL / Soil: Sandy / Orientation: South / Plant density: 5000 vines / hectare / Varieties: Mostly Mencía with Bastardo (Trousseau), Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) and Doña Blanca / Elaboration: Harvested at the end of August / beginning of September. Whole-cluster fermentation in open-top 700-liter barrel. 40-60 day maceration followed by aging in 228-liter barrique for 16 months. Bottled without fining or filtration.

Raul Perez Description

Raúl Pérez Pereira is universally considered to be one of the world’s most visionary winemakers. Since he produced his first vintage for his family’s winery in 1994 at the age 22, he has been in the forefront of the conversation about what has been called “The New Spain”. In 2005, he left his family business to strike out on his own, creating Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez, which quickly became the point of reference for the Bierzo appellation. In the intervening years, he has expanded his sphere of activity to include the appellations of Rías Baixas, Ribeira Sacra and Tierra de León, but his heart and his home remain in Valtuille de Abajo, the village in Bierzo where his family has been tending vines for well over 300 years.

In addition to numerous other accolades, Raúl was named “Winemaker of the Year” by German publication Der Feinschmecker in 2014 and “Best Winemaker in the World” for 2015 by the French publication Bettane+Desseauve. In the February 2018 Decanter, Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros wrote, “Raúl Pérez is the archetype of the intuitive winemaking genius.” A picture of Raúl in that same article is captioned, “Is this the best winemaker in the world?” Raúl would certainly not self-apply any of these superlatives. In fact, his genius is far exceeded by his humility and generosity of spirit. That humility comes through in his wines. These are not “winemaker” wines so much as they are unadulterated expressions of the villages and vineyards from which they hail.

Wine Advocate: 93 Points

"Again, the cooler 2021 seems to have worked nicely for the 2021 Ultreia Cova de la Raposa, which compensates for the warmer place. Despite the moderate alcohol, 13.1%, the aromatic expression is quite ripe, and there are toasty notes redolent of roasted sunflower seeds. It's from a small plot with southeast exposure that only produces enough wine for a 500-liter oak barrel. It has abundant tannins and toasted notes that make a comeback in the finish. It needs powerful food to tame the tannins. 600 bottles produced." Luis Gutierrez, Robert Parker