Raúl Pérez has played a pivotal role in Spain’s vinous revolution. Widely considered to be one of the world’s most fascinating, talented and restless winemakers, he has inspired a new generation of winemakers in Bierzo and beyond.
While Raúl is involved in many projects across Spain and abroad, his home remains Valtuille de Abajo, the Bierzo village where he was born and raised. His family have a long-standing tradition of grape growing in the region, dating back to the 1750s. After studying oenology, Raúl spent several years working at his family winery, Castro Ventosa, before striking out on his own in 2005. He has worked tirelessly to preserve Bierzo’s viticultural heritage, developing an unparalleled understanding of the region, its vineyards and indigenous varieties.
Today, Raúl owns 80 hectares of vineyard across the region, comprising many tiny plots with varying aspects and soil compositions, all farmed using organic practices. He also works with trusted growers and is constantly exploring new pockets of the region. Mencía is the dominant grape, but many plots are co-planted with other local red varieties like Alicante Bouschet and Trousseau, alongside white varieties including Godello, Palomino, Malvasia and Doña Blanca. The signature finesse of his wines is the result of meticulously chosen picking dates, with harvest typically taking a month or more to complete.
In the winery, Raúl takes a minimal-intervention approach, embracing the regional tradition of co-fermentation and fermenting each plot separately with indigenous yeasts. For the reds, he utilises whole-bunch fermentation and extended maceration, without punch-downs or pump-overs. For the whites, there is no bâtonnage, and malolactic fermentation rarely takes place, although it occurred spontaneously in the 2023 vintage. The wines are left alone and aged in neutral barrels of varying sizes for around one year before bottling. It is this simple, hands-off philosophy that allows the character of each plot to shine through in the glass. As described by Josh Raynolds (Vinous.com), these are “highly individual wines of real personality”.
The ‘Ultreia’ collection (Latin for “let’s go further”) comprises single-vineyard and regional wines.
"The 2023 Ultreia La Claudina is austere and mineral and smells of wet rocks. It comes from a dry place in a rainy year, on sandy soils that deliver elegant wines. It aged in a well-seasoned and neutral 2007 oak foudre. This was bottled without malolactic and has a very austere, stony mouthfeel, with restraint and elegance. This is the small-grained Godello from Bierzo, different from the one from Valdeorrras that has larger grapes. 2,500 bottles produced." 96pts Luis Gutiérrez The Wine Advocate
