2021 Raul Perez 'Ultreia de Valtuille' Bierzo

Raúl Pérez is widely regarded as one of Spain's greatest winemakers, and Ultreia de Valtuille is his village masterpiece — a field blend led by Mencía, with scattered old-vine Bastardo, Garnacha Tintorera, Godello and Doña Blanca, from the Las Villegas paraje in his home village of Valtuille de Abajo. Wine Advocate cites vines planted in 1887, farmed organically.

The winemaking is old Bierzo at its purest: whole-cluster fermentation with native yeasts in large open-top chestnut vats, a remarkable 60 to 90 days on the skins, a year in neutral barrels, and bottling without fining or filtration. In 2021 the fruit came from the clay portion of the Villegas plot, and only about 18 barriques were produced.

Wine Advocate's Luis Gutiérrez awarded the 2021 a towering 97 points — among the very top Bierzo scores of the vintage — noting moderate alcohol and mellow acidity from a long, slow-ripening cycle, with a drinking window out to 2035.