Winery: Veronica Ortega                         

Region: D.O. Bierzo

Vintage: 2024                                       

Bottle: 75 cl                                                    

Grape Varieties: 90% Mencía and 10% Godello, Doña Blanca y Palomino.

Type:  Red wine, oak-aged

Alcohol Volume: 13.5% vol.

Serving Temperature: 14°–16°

Cáreo is a "Paraje" wine by Verónica Ortega of very limited production. It is sourced from the La Fulgueira vineyard in Villa de Arganza. The wine is a blend consisting mainly of the Mencía grape, along with other local varieties, primarily white, harvested from a small, century-old vineyard of just 0.8 ha in San Juan de la Mata, located to the north of the Bierzo Valley. The vines, which are over 110 years old, grow in clay-limestone soil at an altitude of 650 metres above sea level.

Production: 

Hand-harvested. Vinified with 80% whole bunches. Gentle maceration and alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts in an open, truncated-cone-shaped wooden vat, followed by 11 months' ageing in a 300-litre French oak barrel and a further 4 months in 8002-litre clay amphorae.

Tasting Notes:

A clean, light cherry-red colour. Excellent aromatic finesse and elegance. It stands out for its freshness and liveliness. Scented fresh red fruit nose alongside floral notes, violets, with a slightly mineral and herbal background. On the palate, it is light, fresh and juicy yet presents a complexity of flavours with a refreshing acidity, soft tannins and a long aftertaste.

Veronica Ortega, originally from Cadiz, belongs to the new generation of young winemakers: perfectionist, enthusiastic, talented, and most of all, innovative and restless. With a formidable CV when it comes to winemaking, Veronica can boast of having gained expertise at some of the world’s greatest wineries, including Clos Erasmus and Alvaro Palacios in Priorat, Domaine de la Romanée Conti in Burgundy, Domaine Combier in the Rhone, and Niepoort, among others.

Her personal project takes off in 2010 when she relocates to the Bierzo village of Valtuille de Abajo and begins producing her own wines from two very old vineyards of Mencia farmed ecologically. Her wines have proved to be a great success, earning her high recognition among the region's winemakers.