La Sillería 2023

Vintage: 2023

La Sillería 2023 Rueda, Valladolid, Castilla y León

Grapes: Verdejo 100%

ABV: 13%

Production: Only around 1,000 bottles produced.

Agriculture: Organic, ungrafted vines over 100 years old across the La Sillería, Silvina, and El Padrino plots in Alcazarén. Aeolian sandy soils, 750m altitude, continental climate. 0.8 ha total.

Vinification: Hand harvested in 10kg crates with bunch selection. Whole cluster maceration for 12 to 18 hours, then pressed with stems and naturally settled. Spontaneous fermentation in 500L barrels, aged on lees for 12 months in barrel, then 4 months in tank before bottling. Lightly clarified and filtered, no cold stabilisation.

Tasting Notes: Complex and precise, with a savoury, almost pecorino-like quality on the nose alongside fresh citrus and a mineral backbone. The palate is concentrated and structured, with creamy texture from the lees ageing balanced by a clean, elegant finish. Think Chablis, but from the high plains of Castilla.

Volume: 750ml

La Sillería is part of Barco del Corneta's Parajes del Infierno trilogy, a series of wines made to showcase the full potential of the region's three native varieties — Palomino, Viura, and Verdejo, using the oldest vines available. The name comes from a charming piece of local history: it was once common in this part of Castilla y León to mark the boundary of a plot with whatever was to hand. Here, the original owner left a chair (a silla) which also gave her somewhere to rest.

The vines in Alcazarén are over a century old and ungrafted, planted on the deep aeolian sandy soils that protected the area from phylloxera. Vines this old and this undisturbed express themselves differently: lower yields, smaller berries, and a concentration and complexity that younger plantings simply can't replicate. The whole cluster maceration and long lees ageing add texture and depth while keeping the wine honest to its origins. Your tasting notes said it all: super elegant, Chablis-like, with pecorino character and real concentration on the palate.