Manuel Cantalapiedra, "Lirondo Verdejo" 2018

This is a salty and very lightly macerated wine from Manuel Cantalapiedra who works 21 hectares of vines in the town of La Seca in the Rueda DO, Castilla y Leon, Spain.

Tasting Notes: Salty, a touch yeasty but with such a refreshing citrus and pineapple springtime glow. A light maceration gifts the wine a bit more structure in the palate.

Vinification: 100% Verdejo from 30-year-old vines grown in a complex soil: pebble, sand & clay over Limestone. Hand-harvested, destemmed, and gently pressed in a pneumatic press. 12 hours on the skins is followed by racking and full spontaneous fermentation purely with native yeasts in stainless steel. The wine is aged for 8 months on the fine lees. Unfined, unfiltered, no additional SO2. 

Manuel Cantalapiedra, along with his viticulturist father Isaac, work 21 hectares of vineyards spread over several plots in the municipality of La Seca - the heart of the Rueda appellation and home to the Verdejo grape. While most producers in the region have embraced the ultra-modern styles of Verdejo (industrial farming, cultured yeasts, acidification, and cold fermentation) to make an internationally appealing wine, the Cantalapiedra vineyards are certified organic and their winemaking is resolutely natural. They work with fully ripe fruit, ferment with wild yeasts with little temperature control, and add very little sulfur. Manuel is experimenting with whole cluster fermented red wines, orange wines with skin contact, zero sulfur-added pet-nats, and wines under flor. Although the Cantalapiedra’s work is outside of the Rueda D.O., one could say that they are the “torchbearers for Real Rueda.” - Jose Pastor Selections