José Antonio Garcia Valtuille de Abajo 2021

Jose Antonio Garcia and his wife Julia are undeniably part of the new generation of winemakers in Bierzo. Their passion and pursuit of authenticity and sustainability result in refined wines with a gastronomic impact. During our visit to their estate, we were impressed by their meticulous approach and the careful handling in both the vineyards and the wine cellars.

Jose and Julia own around 17 hectares of vineyards, mainly in the municipality of Valtuille de Abajo and a smaller part in Corúllon. Both municipalities have been linked to Bierzo for generations; even Jose’s parents owned vineyards. They work hard in the vineyards and the winery themselves, which explains the name ‘VITICULTOR’ on their label. When they started their estate, they bought some old vineyards, ranging from 80 to 120 years old, and restored them to their biodiversity. These vines date from an era without the different clones that were created to obtain higher yields. The strength and the result of this reconstruction and age are clearly visible when you walk through their vineyards and compare them with those of their neighbours. Their approach is particularly strict and testifies to self-imposed discipline and perseverance, only local compost is used and only organic growing methods are applied.

'Valtuille de Abajo' is one of the two top wines of the José Antonio Garcia estate and reflects in the pure terroir differences between the two municipalities, of which this one is from the Valtuille municipality. Valtuille de Abajo is characterized by vineyards located on rolling slopes between 500 and 650 meters above sea level with granite, clay and sand in the soil. Compared to the wine from Corúllon, this wine is characterized by its elegance in the middle structure, silky tannin and moderate acids ensure its charming and friendly character, compared to the slightly more masculine and more mineral brother from Corúllon.

In recent years, Bierzo has had a quality classification comparable to the system in Burgundy: regional, communal and single vineyards. This wine falls under the communal level or Vino de Villa, from the municipality of Valtuille de Abajo. After the manual harvest, only one third of the grapes are destemmed (manually), the rest is fermented in the whole bunch. The co-fermentation of all the different plots in Valtuille takes place in open vats and sometimes lasts more than 40 days, without too many intense extraction methods, without temperature control, without pumping... only a good year of maturation in new French oak barrels of 300 and 500 liters and a minimum of intervention ensure elegance and finesse of the highest level and ensure that this wine undoubtedly belongs to the top of the wine world and also our range, regardless of the price... This wine begs in its youth for a little extra oxygen, in a wider glass or carafe and even better with pure quality products on the plate.

Domain: José Antonio Garcia
Grape: 85% mencia (+ 15% godello, doña blanca, palomino)
Country: Spain
Region: Bierzo
Wine style: elegant red
Wine & food: roasted veal loin with mushrooms, partridge in grape leaves, grilled langoustine with spicy cauliflower
Serving temperature: 14°C
Storage: < 20 years of consumption
Content: 75 cl