Despite having a Sample Policy on my website for over a year now, I have yet to receive a single request for a review or even a sample sent my way from wineries/distributors. It’s not the end of the world as I’m very used to paying for everything I drink, yet it’s always nice to know that people are curious to know your opinion. Nika, a friend and the operator of Wine Alphabet in Barcelona, very kindly dropped off a bottle of Verdejo from a producer I’d never heard of and wanted to know if my opinion matched her own. I rarely buy Verdejo for personal consumption as I find so many more interesting white wines around the country, let alone the world, so the fact I’m writing it up means it bucked the trend and joined an exclusive club of ‘Verdejo I would actually purchase’.
The wine comes from a brand new production that goes by the name of Bodegas de Crianza de Pozaldez and Curioso Verdejo is their very first wine. Miguel and Ignacio met at the school of agriculture in Valladolid and combined their resources to create the project; Miguel’s family owned the land and the vines, whilst Ignacio is already an accomplished wine-maker working with several properties around Castilla y Leon. Their vineyards aren’t particularly old, but they’ve invested a great deal into the wine-making with several sorts of oak barrels from difference areas (French, Hungarian and even American) of various difference sizes. I don’t know the significance of the astronaut on the front of the bottle, and I’m not sure the wine is particularly ‘curious’, but it is very nice!
Tasting Note
100% Verdejo from Miguel’s estate in DO Rueda, from vineyards of around 16-17 years old. 40% of the wine is fermented and aged in various sizes of French, Hungarian and American oak with regular battonage for 7 months, whilst the other 40% undergoes the same process in stainless steel. The resulting wines are blended and bottled. Just under 15,000 bottles produced. 13.5% ABV
Despite the time spent in oak, this is still a pale, fresh looking wine. Reasonably aromatic with notes of ripe green fruits, melon, peach and just a hint of green pineapple, and quite a noticeable impact from the wine-making with smoke, bread dough and touches of sweet spices creeping in. Very fresh and lively on the palate despite the viscous body and slightly oily texture, dominated by flavours of stone fruits, bread dough and touches of green herbs, with just a slight bitterness on the finish. A substantial Verdejo and really quite good; if this sits on a shelf for around 15 euros, I would certainly buy a bottle from time to time. 89Pts.
Sample – Retail price not currently known