R. Parker (93+/100)
The south-facing and sunny 2019 Valtuille La Cova de la Raposa is always the first plot to be harvested, and the wine has a juicier and riper personality. This has more concentration and more tannin and is not as expressive on the nose as the 2018; it feels a bit more serious and backward and should repay some extra time in bottle. 1,100 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2021, after one year in two 500-liter oak barrels.
At Castro Ventosa they are separating the plots to have more precision, and they have a new top-of-the-range red called La Vitoriana. The wines have less alcohol, less ripeness and less oak, and they are cleaner and more focused. They own 80 to 85 hectares from the 500 hectares in the village of Valtuille, so they don't buy a single grape (and they don't sell any either).
For César Márquez, who likes 2018, thinks 2019 is more serious, keeping the freshness (perhaps with more structure), a more complete year. 2020 had a warmer summer and saw an early harvest, and the result is better than he expected. It's a warm vintage but not as warm as 2017. I see many similar opinions in Bierzo. However, the 2020 whites felt one notch above the 2019s...