Verónica Ortega Roto 2022
36.28₣ (Exc. VAT bot. 75 cl.) / Switzerland
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The second vintage of the white Palomino from the village of Cobrana is the 2022 Roto, fermented in stainless steel and aged in Manzanilla Sherry casks under a layer of flor yeasts for 14 months. It comes from 0.5 hectares of ancient vines on decomposed slate and red clay soils typical from the village, located at 750 meters above sea level. It has contained ripeness and 12% alcohol. It has a characterful nose with notes of esparto grass and dried flowers, very aromatic and showy. It has more extract, from the warm and dry year, and it's juicy. It has a chalky palate, with pungent flavors and lively acidity, and it comes in with very good parameters of acidity and freshness, with a pH of 3.06 and 6.47 grams of acidity after full malolactic. 1,294 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2024.
Features
Type of wine
Pairings
Style
Occasions
Winery
Size
Country
Region
Appellation
Alcohol
12.0%
Grapes
Serving
Between 6ºC and 8ºC
Winemaking
Fermented in stainless steel tanks. Aged for 15 months under the flor yeast film in 500 and 600 litre Manzanilla casks.
Description
At the top of Cobrana, a small spot in Bierzo still little explored by contemporary viticulture, Verónica Ortega Roto found a wild jewel: a vineyard of barely half a hectare, with Palomino vines in goblet, twisted and long-lived, over 90 years old. In an environment of extreme altitude - 750 metres above sea level - with very degraded slate soils between veins of red clay, Verónica saw the possibility of reinterpreting this variety, traditionally undervalued outside its Jerez context, as a pure channel of mineral and tense expression.
The story of Verónica Ortega Roto was born as a kind of poetic and rebellious act. Against commercial logic and the fashions of the fruitiest Bierzo, Verónica opted for a wine without make-up, without concessions, where the terroir dictates the rhythm. A season marked by climatic extremes, with scarce rainfall and unusual heat, put this idea to the test. However, as Verónica says, "great terroirs reveal themselves in the most difficult conditions", and Verónica Ortega Roto emerged with surprising balance, as if the rigours of the climate had filtered through the slatey subsoil to become tension and finesse.
Winemaking
The grapes were harvested by hand and carefully selected in the vineyard. The grapes fermented spontaneously in stainless steel tanks, at relatively high temperatures, respecting the rhythm imposed by the raw material. No corrections, no unnecessary intervention. The wine was then aged for 14 months under a veil of flor in 500 and 600 litre old sherry butts that had previously contained manzanilla. This decision, unusual for a Bierzo wine, gives the Palomino a complex aromatic layer and unexpected depth, without losing the honesty of its origin. Only 1,294 bottles of Verónica Ortega Roto were bottled, as an intimate act of free and radical interpretation of the landscape.
Taste
In the glass, Verónica Ortega Roto is anything but complacent. It presents itself with a discreet but extremely precise nose: dried manzanilla flower, lemon peel, a saline echo that recalls seas this vineyard has never seen. In the background, an earthy heartbeat of warm slate and dry leaves. There is no exuberance, but a restrained tension, a sharp line across the palate with a vertical, vibrant acidity. On the palate, it is dry, serious, almost ascetic, with a marked salinity that lengthens the finish and leaves a trail of sharp minerality. It is a wine that reveals itself in layers, that does not seek to flatter but to provoke. Like the great wines of flor, it asks for time, silence and attention. And it offers, in return, a sensory experience that defies the mental map of the traditional Bierzo.
Shipping to Switzerland
50% discount on orders over 377.02₣*Estimated transit time: 6-7 working days.
| Bottles | Price | Over 377.02₣* |
|---|---|---|
| 1-6 | 22.76₣ | 11.38₣ (-11.38₣) |
| 7-12 | 28.18₣ | 14.09₣ (-14.09₣) |
| 13-18 | 34.78₣ | 17.39₣ (-17.39₣) |
| 19-24 | 43.73₣ | 21.87₣ (-21.87₣) |
| 25-30 | 49.01₣ | 24.51₣ (-24.51₣) |
| 31-36 | 54.67₣ | 27.33₣ (-27.33₣) |
| 37-42 | 58.44₣ | 29.22₣ (-29.22₣) |
| 43-48 | 60.32₣ | 30.16₣ (-30.16₣) |
| 49-54 | 65.98₣ | 32.99₣ (-32.99₣) |
| 55-60 | 71.63₣ | 35.82₣ (-35.82₣) |
| 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.
