Parajes del Bierzo - Mencía, A. Bouschet & co (24)

85% Mencía, 7% Alicante Bouschet & 8% mix van o.a. Sousón | 48 verschillende percelen, 9 verschillende dorpen | terroir van klei, zand, leisteen en kalksteen | stokken tussen 80-145 jaar oud | per perceel gevinifieerd | 20% hele trossen | met de voet getreden | vergisting en rijping in 225-, 400-, 500 600 en een 5000-liter eikenhouten vat(en) voor 12 maanden | rijpe bessen | floraal | cranberry | wilde kruiden | iets rokerig | wat aards | fris | heel puur en fraaie intensiteit | bite | kruidig | pittige Mencía | veel karakter | elegant en verfijnd ook

César Márquez

César Márquez is de meest verfijnde wijnmaker van Bierzo. Opgegroeid tussen de wijngaarden van Castro Ventosa, gevormd door zijn oom Raúl Pérez, maar met een eigen kompas. Vanuit een gerestaureerde 19e-eeuwse kelder in zijn geboortedorp Valtuille de Abajo werkt hij met oude wijngaarden van 80 tot 120 jaar oud, verspreid over verschillende dorpen en bodems. Hele trossen, vroeg geoogst, minimale interventie — Atlantisch van stijl, bourgondisch van logica. Zijn Mencía's zijn transparant en vol energie, zijn Godello's hebben een spanning en reductie die je zelden tegenkomt in Spanje. We zijn er trots op hem in ons portfolio te hebben.

Review

The 2023 Parajes is his regional red, a blend of different places, soils, expositions and altitudes (between 450 and 780 meters above sea level). It's a real representation of El Bierzo, with grapes from 45 different plots in nine villages. The vines range in age from 80 to 142 years of old and are planted with field blends—approximately 85% Mencía, 10% Alicante Bouschet and 5% other white and red varieties like Bastardo, Sousón and Estaladiña. There are always some full clusters, depending on vintage and plot, and part of the wine ferments in stainless steel and part of it is in bins, as he ferments by plot. The wine matured in 225-, 400- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. It has moderate ripeness and 13.08% alcohol, a pH of 3.58 and 5.34 grams of acidity, making it lower in alcohol than the 2022 and with more freshness. It's serious and balanced, elegant and fine-boned. It gets very close to the village red this year. This is a bargain. 34,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2025. 94/100 Luis Gutiérrez

César Márquez Pérez, Raúl Pérez's nephew, is one of the most precise winemakers in Bierzo with the family Castro Ventosa range and his personal project, which he started in 2015. In the 2023 vintage, he is releasing a new wine from the Villegas area, a lieu-dit in Valtuille on sandy soils. The single-vineyard wines are aging in increasingly larger oak containers, combining 1,200-liter vats with 500- and 600-liter barrels. He owns 7.2 hectares and works a further seven with local growers across Bierzo, from altitudes ranging between 450 to 850 meters above sea level. His production is slowly growing, and he now crafts 60,000 bottles per year. 

As he told me while tasting the wines from the family winery, Castro Ventosa, which he also vinifies, ”2023 was a cooler vintage with rain at the beginning of the harvest. The wines have a floral, serious and elegant profile with a contained alcohol content of 12.5% to 13%.” These are some of the finest and more elegant wines he has produced so far.