El Helechal 2022

The white to date continues with the 2022 El Helechal, produced with Rufete Blanco grapes. They have reduced the skin contact here since they also produced a proper "orange" wine. They got a big crop in the very dry and warm 2022. Rufete Blanco is a rustic grape with a thick skin, and it ripens late (after the red) and keeps good freshness and acidity. The wine is ripe at 14% with a pH of 3.14 and 6.4 grams of acidity. It has some floral characters but mostly more aromas of wild herbs, and the palate has volume and clout, with good dry extract and a tasty finish with a bitter twist. 1,300 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023 after 10 months in 500-liter oak barrels. The three whites I tasted come from the same 18-year-old vineyard on slate soils.

This pure Rufete Blanco spends a day on the variety’s famously thick skins before fermentation and ageing in barrel. Wild flower and honeysuckle aromas segue into a palate of honey, brioche and subtle oak complemented by impressive extract. 2024 - 2027