The times when the wine world was dominated by men seem to be over for good. In France, Italy and Germany, women have long been demonstrating what they are capable of, and in Spain, too, more and more women are taking on full responsibility in the vineyard and cellar. One of them is the remarkable winemaker Verónica Ortega! She first studied viticulture in her birthplace of Cadiz in the south of Spain before embarking on an internship abroad, including in South Africa and New Zealand. But then she made the acquaintance of two of the greats of the wine world, the Spanish winemaking icon Alvaro Palacios and the Burgundian legend Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, where she worked for a good 12 months. When the Spanish winemaking genius Raul Perez suggested the small, up-and-coming Bierzo region in north-western Spain to her, and in particular the Mencia grape variety that predominates here, she decided without further ado to found a small winery right here in this cool, mountainous landscape in 2010. This was by no means a coincidence, as it is indeed possible to draw distant comparisons between the finesse-rich, racy wines of the Mencia variety and the great Burgundian Pinot Noirs. Bierzo, with its cool Atlantic influences and ideal, barren terroir, is on the cusp of becoming one of Spain's top regions, and Verónica Ortega will make a significant contribution to this development with her exclusive, albeit strictly limited production. She uses vines that are up to 100 years old with very low yields, but which produce an intense and complex juice. The parcels are cultivated with sustainability in mind in order to preserve the microbiological structure of the soil. Naturally, the wines are fermented with natural yeasts. Verónica Oetega's wines are authentic and energetic, they impressively reflect the climate and terroir and are already considered a benchmark for the Bierzo region and the Mencia variety. Unfortunately, production is so low that you really have to search for one of the few bottles.
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