Raúl Pérez Ultreia Saint Jacques 2021
Raúl Pérez Ultreia Saint Jacques 2021 is a remarkable red wine from the Bierzo region in northwestern Spain, made predominantly from the Mencía grape variety. This wine comes from old vines planted between 1900 and 1940, located on clay-limestone soils in the towns of Valtuille de Abajo and Villadecanes. These vineyards, which are over 80 years old, give the wine a unique complexity and depth. With an alcohol content of 13.5% and a production of approximately 170,000 bottles, it is an authentic expression of Bierzo, combining tradition, complexity and elegance. It is ideal with red meat dishes, game or mature cheeses.
Vinification: Fermentation with whole bunches in 3,000 to 5,000 litre French oak vats, without temperature control. The wine is then aged for 8 to 12 months in used French oak barrels. This process, combined with the absence of filtration and clarification, preserves the authenticity and character of the terroir.
Tasting Notes: On the nose it is austere, expressive and fresh. It has aromas of fresh red fruits, such as raspberry and redcurrant, accompanied by mineral notes and hints of milk. On the palate, it is direct and fluid, with marked acidity and well-integrated tannins, resulting in a balanced and elegant wine.
Grape Varieties: 100% Mencia
Strong rubbery nose. The palate has fresher black fruit but it still has a dominant tense, reduced character that makes it tannic and rubbery. One to age.
The biggest volume of the winery is the 2021 Ultreia Saint Jacques, which represents some 170,000 bottles, and according to Raúl Pérez, it's the most difficult wine to make here. They now work a lot to produce this wine, a blend of 11 wines selected from the 17 they made. It's a wine that represents Bierzo and is from a year when they used more grapes from sandy soils. It has 13.16% alcohol and a pH of 3.66; it's serious and restrained but juicy and easy to drink. Seventy percent of the wine matured in barrel and the rest in troncoconic oak vats.
Crushed blackberry and boysenberry fruit is dark and ripe in this red, accented by hints of dried lavender, woodsy spices and a subtle underpinning of loamy earth and mineral. Fresh, with light, creamy tannins. Drink now through 2026. 10,000 cases made, 3,000 cases imported.
