Last Friday, I couldn’t resist telling you about the Corullón 2023, although my original plan was to write about its neighbour: the new “ROC” from Verónica Ortega.
We know Verónica as one of Spain’s most talented winemakers, with a CV that has taken her all the way to Tokyo, via La Romanée-Conti and Raúl Pérez.
Her 2023 wines have sold out within minutes over the past few months:
Cáreo,
A Bruxa. Rare wines of outstanding quality (
reserve here for the next vintage).
And now her
flagship wine has arrived: “
ROC”. Another wine from the magical 2023 vintage!
It deserves a place in your cellar right next to the Corullón 2023 of which you managed to buy some of the final bottles on Friday… 😉
ROC is the wine where it all started for Verónica: it comes from her first vineyard. Located in Valtuille de Abajo, it is planted mainly with Mencía vines more than 100 years old, mixed with some Palomino, as was common in the past.
This is a softer terroir than the stony soils of Corullón. The soils are mainly sandy, resulting in a wine that is lighter and softer, with particularly elegant tannins.
She works fully organically and vinifies the grapes as whole bunches, without destemming.
Her approach is non-interventionist, avoiding too much extraction so that the elegant floral notes can take the lead.
And what does Luis Gutiérrez say for R. Parker?
96/100: Verónica Ortega, ROC 2023
The nose of the 2023 ROC is an explosion of aromatic herbs. It comes from two very old plots in the village of Valtuille de Abajo, planted with a field blend that includes around 8% Palomino and Doña Blanca white grapes that fermented with 100% full clusters in a 5,000-liter oak vat. It matured in a 3,400-liter troncoconic oak vat and in 500-liter barrels for two winters. It's very perfumed and elegant, developing high-pitched floral aromas with time in the glass and even hints of blood orange peel, denoting freshness.
The wine comes in at 12.9% alcohol with a pH of 3.45, and it has a more ethereal profile, very fresh and elegant, clean and with a very fine thread and elegant tannins. These are the last grapes to be harvested in the Valtuille zone. It's superb!
As always with Verónica, our allocation is very limited.
So you know not to wait too long before ordering. Online is best, so you can be sure of getting your bottles, as I can’t always keep an eye on all my emails. And there’s a fair chance I might be on a plane right now…