Cantalapiedra - Majuelo del Chiviritero 2022

White wine.

Fleshy, Rich, Complex.

Verdejo is not often a name you hear when people talk of exquisite wines.

That is because the DO of Rueda, where the wine is grown, prevents people from making anything more of it than the most simple of white wines. They do this in order to compete in the Sav B or Pinot Grigio markets and this results in supermarket trash that tastes like water with a lime squeezed in it.

And I was about ready to give up on this grape. That was until I heard about the renegade producers of La Seca. There are a number of producers, centred around this town which sits right in the centre of the region, that reject the mandate around how to produce with this grape. They are blessed with old vines in the beautiful limestone pebbled soils and they are confident of greater potential.

It is for that reason that they barrel age their Verdejo and make masterpieces while simultaneously raising their middle finger to the local authority.

Cantalapiedra is one such producer. With Isaac Cantalapiedra at the helm, the project stems back a few generations when his grandfather planted the special vineyards that they still use today.

The particular vineyard used for this wine, known as the Majuelo del Chiviritero was planted in the mid 80s and it produces some stunningly fruity grapes.

When ripe, the grapes are brought into the winery and the juice is pressed off into used oak barrels for the fermentation. The wine then remains in these barrels for 11 months on the lees building complexity and concentrating the flavours.

A stunning wine that (if only it were fairly recognised) would put Verdejo among the legendary white grapes of Spain!