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Vico
Vico
Vico, produced by Raul Pérez is a limited-production wine from the Bierzo region. It is a perfect example of a clean, bright and pure Mencía wine. It comes from Raul’s village, Valtuille de Abajo. The name Vico pays tribute to Patrick Mata's older brother, Victor, a lawyer who resides in southern Spain’s town of Marbella and a person with an abiding fascination with the unique expressions of terroir found throughout Spain. Vico may be Raul’s most extreme wine and it’s strongly suggested that you decant it if you drink it within five years of the vintage. Raul Pérez is one of Spain’s finest winemakers and some wine trade veterans believe Raul is among a handful of the best winemakers in the world. Raul believes great wines are made in the vineyard and he has an uncanny knack for knowing what his vineyards need to achieve their greatest potential. As his great talent has become known, many winemakers now seek to collaborate with Raul. In 2010, Wine&Spirits Magazine named Bodegas y Viñedos Raul Pérez “Winery of The Year.”
What makes this wine unique?
This wine has a miniscule total production of 500 cases. Of all of his remarkable wines, this is perhaps Raul Pérez’s best value. Vico is a village wine from the Valtuille de Abajo subzone of Bierzo. Made from dry-farmed (no irrigation) old vines that are head pruned. As with all of Raul’s wines, the viticulture is organic. The wine is made utilizing 30% whole cluster maceration before, during and after fermentation for 60 days. This wine will age for 20 years.
Rating history:
2009 91RP; 2008 93RP & 91IWCGrape:
100% Mencía. The grapes for Vico come from two parcels, one planted in 1889 and another planted in 1924.
Pairing Suggestions:
Whether it’s roast chicken, broiled pork tenderloin, lamb or bison burgers, or cod in a tomato sauce similar to Basque Bacalao, Vico will really shine with dishes prepared with savory spices and wild herbs. The Mencía grape has a characteristic green-leaf quality, a minty-menthol edge that Spanish winemakers often describe as “balsamic.” They mean nothing to do with Italian vinegar but rather to a wine’s character of refreshing spices like anise or fennel.
Vinification and ageing:
With 30% whole clusters, there is pre-fermentation maceration, fermentation, and extended, post fermentation maceration on the skins after fermentation for a period of 60 days. The wine is aged for 9 months in 300-liter French oak barrels, two years old.
Production:
500 cases are made; 325 for the U.S.
Location, Soil, Climate:
Within Zone 1, El Bierzo, sometimes called “the gateway to Galicia”, enclosed on both sides by mountains. Vico is made from vineyards located in the town of Valtuille de Abajo at 530m (1,739ft)altitude. The soil is sandy with river stones, pour in nutrients, thus reducing naturally the yields of its vines, producing small grapes full of expression and concentrated flavor. For climate, the area’s average temperature from April-October is 16.3°C (61.42°F). A yearly average rainfall of 711mm (28 in) makes this one of the driest and warmest wine regions in northwestern Spain.
Tasting notes:
The Opaque purple-colored Vico offers up a slightly reticent bouquet of damp earth, mineral, incense, black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense and loaded on the palate, the flavors are already complex and mouth filling. Impeccably balanced and with a 45-second finish, it has the stuffing to blossom for another 2-3 years but can be approached now. It is a great value. Notes by Jay Miller of The Wine Advocate.
Alcohol Content:
13.0%
UPC Code:
810411013472
