Viariz 2021

The village red 2021 Viariz, named after the village, comes from high-altitude and low-yielding vines from different vineyards, including some in La Muria, which is also bottled on its own, plus La Tora, Las Pozas and some other plots, all on slate soils. The grapes struggle to ripen here—the wine is labeled at 12% alcohol. They started here in 2019, but the vintage that they feel comfortable with is 2021. The soils are very compact, and it's a lot of work with the horses, but the results are spectacular. It was picked in early October, and the full clusters fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts. It's elegant and floral, clean and very showy. The wine has great elegance, balance and purity. This is a new face of Bierzo previously unknown to me. Great finesse! Some 6,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in early 2023. Price is still tentative.