Sotomonte Verdejo
"Among the best values I’ve tasted this year in the broad category of fresh white wines, this is impressively delicious regardless of price considerations." —
Michael Franz, Editor Wine Review Online
Appellation
Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon
Grape(s)
100% Verdejo from selection of grapes from younger vineyards (10-15 years old)
Altitude/Soil
700+ meters / alluvial soils composed of sand, clay and pebbles
Farming Methods
Traditional methods / Sustainable agriculture
Harvest
Machine-picked at night
Production
Grapes were destemmed and underwent an overnight cold maceration with skins prior to pressing, fermented in stainless steel tank
Aging
Aged for a few months on fine lees prior to bottling
Suggested Retail Price
$13
Sotomonte Verdejo
2020
90 (WRO) 89 (VfC) 89 (VM)
| 90 |
Wine Review Online |
Among the best values I’ve tasted this year in the broad category of fresh white wines, this is impressively delicious regardless of price considerations. Ripe in flavor and rounded in feel, it features stone fruit flavors with an undertone of mandarin orange, and finishes with mineral notes that lend interest and complexity to the finish. Like all other releases from this winery that I’ve tasted lately, there’s not the barest hint of sulfur showing in this wine — just pure fruit, deftly wrought.
Michael Franz - April 6, 2021 |
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| 89 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2020 Verdejo from Sotomonte just arrived in the US a few weeks prior to my deadline for this article. The wine is very pretty, offering up a vibrant nose of tart orange, fresh apricot, a hint of guava, salty soil tones and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied and juicy, with a good core, zesty acids and good length and grip on the bouncy finish. This is lovely and really deserves a natural cork as its closure! 2021-2024.
John Gilman - Issue #91 / February 2021 |
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| 89 |
Vinous Media |
Vivid straw. Lemon pith, pear skin and a hint of fennel on the nose and in the mouth. Supple and broad, showing no rough edges and a hint of tangerine on the supple, clinging finish, which
echoes the fennel note. 2021-2023.
Josh Raynolds – July 6, 2021 Central Spain Additions |
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Sotomonte Verdejo
2021
88 (WE) 87 (VfC)
| 88 |
Wine Enthusiast |
With a fresh nose of grapefruit, lemon and just-mowed grass, this wine dances on the tongue with flavors of toasted pineapple, white peach and white flowers. There is a touch of talc on the finish.
Mike DeSimone October, 2022
RANKED #90 TOP 100 BEST BUY 2022 |
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| 87 |
View from the Cellar |
Sotomonte’s 2021 Verdejo is a very, very good example and at the present time, shows no ill effects on the nose from its choice of closure. The bouquet is bright and beautifully expressive, hopping from the glass in a mix of gooseberry, lime peel, wild fennel, salty soil tones, a touch of green olive and plenty of fresh-cut grass in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and complex, but already egregiously pinched by the reduction brought on by the screwcap; with vigorous swirling, it unlocks a fair bit. The wine is long, crisp and well balanced, and under cork, I am sure it would be terrific. Under screwcap, it is not bad once the reduction has been unlocked as much as it can be, but this is a perfect example of a wine that would be great under an agglomerated cork, but which is partially compromised by its screwcap, with reductive constriction on the palate and a bit of reductive vegetable elements on the finish. 2022-2025.
John Gilman – Issue #98 March/April 2022 |
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Sotomonte Verdejo
2022
87 (VfC)
| 87 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2022 Sotomonte bottling from Alvarez y Diez is composed entirely of Verdejo. The grapes are picked at night to retain acidity and the wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. The 2020 Sotomonte offers up a bright bouquet of lime, green apple, salty soil tones, white flowers and a touch of grassiness. On the palate the wine is fullish, vibrant and a touch pinched by its closure, with solid depth at the core (this is the estate’s younger vine bottling), zesty acids and a nice panoply of flavors on the moderately long finish. I have a sense that this wine is a bit short and a bit compact from its screwcap and would be even better bottled under natural cork. The raw materials here are very good, particularly for younger vines, but it really does deserve the dignity of a natural cork closure of some sort. 2023-2028.
John Gilman - Issue #103 January/February 2023. |
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Sotomonte Verdejo
2023
88 (VfC)
| 88 |
View from the Cellar |
The 2023 Verdejo “Sotomonte” bottling from Alvarez y Diez is crafted from grapes picked at night to retain acidity; it is fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. The 2023 Sotomonte is fairly grassy aromatically, which is probably a combination of both this side of the Verdejo variety and it having been closed under screwcap (this wine is really of high enough quality to deserve to be finished with a natural cork). With a bit of coaxing, the wine offers up a lovely nose of pear, fresh lime, attractive grassiness, a good base of minerality, just a touch of citrus zest and a topnote of spring flowers. On the palate the wine is bright, fullish, complex and nicely balanced, with a good core and soil signature, a lovely spine of acidity and a slightly pinched finish from the screwcap. This is a lovely bottle of Verdejo that would clearly score a couple of points higher if bottled under natural cork. Perhaps an agglomerated cork closure would be both cost effective and not crimp the wine’s style? Even under the screw, this is a good drink. 2024-2028.
John Gilman; Issue 109, January – February 2024 |
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