Belondrade y Lurton 2013

2013 was not an easy harvest in Rueda, but those that worked well in their vineyards and were able to harvest early (by hand and sorting the grapes), the result is often a fresh wine. For those that worked well, 2013 could be similar to 2007, which not coincidentally, is my favorite vintage at Belondrade. However, they had to sort and discard lots of grapes (around 10%) for this 2013 Belondrade y Lurton. The nose is really exuberant, very perfumed, very Verdejo, very fresh, open and expressive, with aromas of lilies, aromatic herbs (lavender), fennel, rhubarb and a hint of orange peel; the oak is in the background, much better integrated than in the old times. The palate is very fresh, lively, vibrant (in general there is no malo, but as they use natural yeasts if a barrel starts doing malo they do not stop it) with some citric flavors reminiscent of grapefruit, talcum powder and aromatic herbs; it has with good length and balance. This has the potential to have a long life in bottle, especially in large formats. As a reference, I tasted the 2010 which is aging nicely and developing balsamic aromas that reminded me of some aged Cavas. As some new vineyards had come into production for Belondrade (as a general rule the vines have to be around ten years old and they have to see the potential in the must), the total volume was around the same as in previous vintages, as in 2013 there were 92,000 bottles produced.