César Márquez Villegas 2023

After six years of experimentation, this is César’s first release from the Villegas paraje, and what a debut! Intensely floral, with rose petal and talc, it has an ethereal precision without losing the weight and substance of the Valtuille vineyard. Fermented in large old oak with 30% whole bunch, it is vibrant and elegant with a flicker of pomegranate, and is beautifully framed by woody spice following 12 months aging in 500L barrels. It is a pure and seamless interpretation of the Bierzo valley floor with that rare ability to provide immediate delight, yet built with serious foundations to last. 2025-2033.

The new 2023 Villegas is produced with a Mencía-based centenary field blend on sandy soils in a "paraje" that tends to produce more elegant wines. It fermented with 30% full clusters and indigenous yeasts in 1,000-liter containers with 18 days of maceration, and it matured in 500-liter French oak barrels for 12 months. He's been working this vineyard since 2018, three small plots, and in 2023, he decided to finally bottle two of the three plots. 2023 is very good for Villegas, a rainy year for a dry place, and the wine at this ripeness shows great elegance and floral aromas, notes of orange peel (someone said limoncello!), giving it citrus freshness. It comes in at 12.85% alcohol with a pH of 3.71 and 5.23 grams of acidity. It's very elegant and fine-boned and exceeded my expectations. Villegas is a lieu-dit of around 11 hectares, nine of them planted. It could very well be the grand cru from Valtuille. 1,702 bottles produced. It was bottled in January 2025.

This is a new wine from this producer. It opens with exceptional aromas of geraniums and a really attractive floral lift, complemented by subtle herbs. There's outstanding balance. Medium- to full-bodied on the focused palate, with delicately delineated ethereal fruit and a fruity, restrained finish. This comes from old vines in this sandy patch of the Villegas lieu-dit. Outstanding. Drink now or hold.