Cune farms Verdejo across Rueda, the high plateau of Castilla y León where the grape has grown since long before anyone thought to bottle it as a single variety. The bodega is best known for Rioja, but it has been in Rueda for decades, and this is the plainest expression of what the region does.
- Verdejo, the white grape of Rueda.
- Rueda, Castilla y León, high inland plateau.
- 2018, a warm, dry growing season.
- Light body, high acidity, dry.
- 13% alcohol, 750ml.
How it is made
Rueda was granted its own DO in 1980, the first in Castilla y León, built around Verdejo after phylloxera and a century of sherry-style winemaking had nearly erased it. The rules are strict about what counts: Verdejo must dominate any white carrying the name. Most of it is fermented cool in stainless steel, kept away from oxygen and oak, so the grape arrives in the glass as itself.
How it tastes
Green apple and citrus first, then white peach, then the herbal note Verdejo is known for, something between fennel and boxwood. The acidity is high and the body is light, so it reads sharp and clean rather than soft. There is a mineral, stony finish underneath the fruit, the kind that comes from poor limestone soils and cold nights on the meseta.
Good to know
Verdejo was nearly lost. Through the twentieth century most of Rueda's grapes went into fortified, oxidised wines, and the variety was close to being grubbed up before a handful of producers pushed for the DO and replanted it. The vine itself is generous and aromatic, which is why it was long treated as a workhorse rather than a wine in its own right.
