2015 El Erial

There is a whole new project/range from the Valdecañada village, a zone with schist and slate soils, that will include the Petra vineyard that was previously bottled under the Ultreia range. I tasted some of these wines, starting with a very Hermitage-like white 2015 El Erial de Valdecañada, a wine from the first vintage that comes back only in 2018. This is not really the style Pérez was looking for, and the wine is quite different. There is only one barrel of this golden-colored white with moderate alcohol (this is a little riper and more alcoholic, because it was a very warm vintage and they harvested late). It comes from individual plants in a very old vineyard. It has notes of dry hay, pollen and honeycomb and is round and lush with the sensation of a skin-contact white (which it is not!). This is a very different wine—Godello on slate soils. There are only 100 bottles of this. The price reflects the scarcity.