WINEMAKER´S NOTES

Beronia Rueda 2020 is bright and clean showing a pale yellow colour with green hints/rim. Intensily aromatic it displays notes of citrus and white fruit along with herbaceous aromas that are typical of the grape variety, such as fennel. Richly textured on the palate, it is fresh and elegant, with a slight touch of bitterness on the finish, also characteristic of the Verdejo grape.

Vintage

The 2020 vintage was marked by a relatively warm, rainy winter. Temperatures in early spring were unusually high, but a subsequent cold snap delayed budburst until the beginning of April. Rain fell plentifully during April and May, but by closely monitoring the crop and applying treatments at key moments we managed to keep the vines in perfect health right up until the harvest. The rain also meant, however, that the plants grew well from budburst through to véraison without needing to be watered at all. Over the summer, the highest temperatures came at the end of July and in early August, reaching 40ºC for several days. The grapes continued to ripen until 2nd September, when the harvest started. Other major factors were the significant heatwaves at the end of the ripening cycle and the rain that fell while the harvest was in full swing. As a result, the plots that were harvested before the rains yielded lower volumes of grapes but fruit that was more concentrated, whilst the plots harvested after the rains yielded higher volumes and grapes that were fresher

WINEMAKING

The grapes are harvested mechanically at night so as to retain the freshness of the fruit and avoid oxidation. The fruit is pressed gently in an inert atmosphere to avoid the aromas becoming oxidised, with the must being separated into different quality grades. We then purify the must by decantation, separating out the clean must. Fermentation is carried out using selected yeasts, with the temperature kept under control at between 14 and 17ºC and goes on for 10-15 days. The winery has two types of fermentation tank, stainless steel and concrete, and both are used. The former offer total temperature control and speedy alcoholic fermentation, which produces wines that are clean, complex and intense on the nose. Concrete on the other hand promotes contact with the lees whilst the porosity of the material helps produce wines that are very full-bodied on the palate. After 2 to 3 months ageing on its lees with weekly remuage, the wine is clarified and filtered prior to creating the perfect blend and bottling. On another note, one of Beronia Rueda’s most significant points of difference is the winery’s capacity to store must and delay alcoholic fermentation for part of the crop until the following spring, meaning it can produce recently fermented wines brimming with freshness.