Valtuille Villegas 2023
43.56₣ (Exc. VAT bot. 75 cl.) / Switzerland
Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez
Bierzo
Available in 1 days
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Valtuille Villegas comes from a vineyard on sandy soils by Raúl Pérez's house, in a place that tends to produce more elegant wines. It fermented with 35% full clusters with 27 days of maceration in oak vats and matured in 500-liter French oak barrels for 12 months. This was one of the highlights of the vintage, pale, perfumed, ethereal and high-pitched. This is really fine-boned, the most elegant of the 2023s. It has 12.45% alcohol with a higher pH of 3.76 and 5.1 grams of acidity. This is my favorite today. 1,150 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2025.
Features
Type of wine
Pairings
Style
Occasions
Winery
Size
Country
Region
Appellation
Alcohol
13.0%
Grapes
Serving
Between 16ºC and 18ºC
Winemaking
Fermented with indigenous yeasts, whole grape harvest and 60-day skin soaking in 3,000-litre open foudres. Aged for 12 months in used 500-litre oak barrels.
Description
In a small corner of the Bierzo, where clay, sand and pebble soils coexist in an almost secret balance, Raúl Pérez has built a radically personal vision of wine. His commitment to the identity of the place, his almost intuitive knowledge of each plot, and his loyalty to traditional methods -without renouncing technical precision- make his wines more than varietal expressions: they are signature wines with the soul of the landscape.
Valtuille Villegas was born from a specific commitment within this philosophy: to vinify separately a small plot of sandy soils, located right next to his house, in an environment that tends to produce finer, more ethereal and tense wines. The Mencía vines, ungrafted and more than 80 years old, sink their roots into a mixture of quartzite and red clay, on a west-facing slope that allows for a slow, unhurried ripening. The microclimate of Valtuille de Abajo, more temperate than other areas of the Bierzo, provides a very unique balance between freshness, perfume and depth.
Winemaking
Valtuille Villegas comes from a vineyard planted on sandy soils next to Raúl Pérez's house, in an area that tends to offer finer, more elegant wines. It is vinified with 35% whole cluster and a maceration of 27 days in oak vats. The wine then matures for 12 months in 500-litre French oak barrels.
Spontaneous fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeasts, without corrections or oenological interventions, respecting the expression of the plot as much as possible. The partial use of stems provides structure and verticality, while the ageing in used wood ensures a subtle integration without make-up.
Taste
The first impression of Valtuille Villegas is not of fruit, but of soil. The wine opens with a note of wet gunpowder, that character of broken chalk and freshly rained earth that only the best Bierzo reds know how to show. As it aerates, notes of wild black fruit emerge: blackberry, blueberry, some dried plum. But everything is kept in an austere, mineral profile, of great verticality.
On the palate, Valtuille Villegas shows a precise attack, with a tension that stretches from start to finish. Fine tannin, almost chalky, envelops the tongue without attacking. There is a restrained, vibrant acidity, reminiscent of the nerve of a high-altitudePinot Noir, but with the elegant rusticity that only Mencía can achieve. There are subtle notes of dried thyme, bay leaf and a distant memory of candied black cherry. The finish is long, saline, with an echo of graphite and dry spices that lingers with a serene energy, without fuss.
Valtuille Villegas is not an easy wine. It demands attention, time and perhaps a second glass to fully unveil itself. But when it does, it shows that rare quality that great plot wines have: they cannot be replicated, only understood.
Shipping to Switzerland

Estimated transit time: 6-7 working days.
Bottles | Price | Over 375.96₣* |
---|---|---|
1-6 | 22.70₣ | 11.35₣ (-11.35₣) |
7-12 | 28.10₣ | 14.05₣ (-14.05₣) |
13-18 | 34.68₣ | 17.34₣ (-17.34₣) |
19-24 | 43.61₣ | 21.81₣ (-21.81₣) |
25-30 | 48.87₣ | 24.44₣ (-24.44₣) |
31-36 | 54.51₣ | 27.26₣ (-27.26₣) |
37-42 | 58.27₣ | 29.14₣ (-29.14₣) |
43-48 | 60.15₣ | 30.08₣ (-30.08₣) |
49-54 | 65.79₣ | 32.90₣ (-32.90₣) |
55-60 | 71.43₣ | 35.72₣ (-35.72₣) |
VAT not included |
** Shipments to Switzerland include transport costs, insurance and export costs (SAD in origin), but not customs duties (SAD at destination) and local taxes.
***At Gourmet Hunters wine prices are exempt from 21% VAT for all shipments to Switzerland. Once in your shopping cart select Switzerland as delivery address to enjoy your order tax free.