Tinita Viñas de Verdejo 2017

The 2017 Tinita had a longer time of aging, with 30% of the wine fermented in barrel, but starting with old vines from sandy soils, getting away from the young and early-bottled Verdejo. This was bottled in May 2018 and was kept with the lees until then. They are looking for more complexity and verticality, and this comes from the south of the appellation where the sandy soils provide some more freshness and perhaps a little less structure but with good length. In 2018, this will probably be fermented in Cebreros, as they are working in the region and have their own facilities there. The oak was completely transparent and integrated in the fruit; it has more subtle aromas, in a tuned-in wine, with subtleness and length. 2017 was a super challenging year in the zone they work: they only filled 17,000 bottles, as yields were one-third of what they usually are. So yields were catastrophic, but quality was very high. It's tasty and varietal, with clean flavors and a balanced mouthfeel.