This family-run winery was founded in 1999, drawing on a long winegrowing tradition that began in 1910 with the purchase of the first vineyard in Valdoneje, where the current winery is located. Founder Dimas García has passed the baton to two of his children: Marcos and Elena. The García Alba family farms 16 ha of old Mencía vines spread over 90 different plots on the distinctive clay slopes of Valtuille de Abajo, dominated by the ancient Roman settlement of Castro de la Ventosa.
Apart from Godello and specific production needs for Pago de Valdoneje, their entry-level young red, Marcos and Elena rely on their own vineyards to produce just over 100,000 bottles. Pago de Valdoneje (80,000 bottles, around €7.5 in Spain) is a fruity, medium-bodied wine with considerable depth and Mencía's distinctive earthy note. It offers unbeatable value for money, coming from vines over 80 years old.
La Tellería (11,000 bottles, €11) also offers superb value. It takes its name from the vineyard of the same name, located on a hillside next to the Camino de Santiago. The wine is aged for four months in a 10,000-litre foudre, resulting in a wine with softer tannins that still retains the fruit. El Valao (4,500 bottles, €14) is much more fragrant and delicate, with fantastic freshness. It was made for the first time in the 2015 vintage. In both cases, the grapes are sourced from very old vines: 85 years old for La Tellería and 90 for El Valao.
La Cerrada (8,000 bottles, €13.5) is made from 25-year-old Godello vines. This white wine is fermented and aged on the lees for two months in stainless steel tanks.
Although many of the wines of Vinos Valtuille have always come from specific vineyards and sites, the García Alba family has incorporated new releases with clean, minimalist labels. All the new wines comply with the DO Bierzo's new zoning guidelines. Valdoneje Viñas Viejas has been replaced by Valtuille de Abajo Vino de Villa (3,000 bottles), a village red aged for six months in 500-litre barrels. Made from 90- to 100-year-old vines, mainly in Villegas (sand) and El Val (clay), the grapes are destemmed to produce a full-bodied red with round tannins, sweet fruit and hints of liquorice.
Cabanelas (1,200 bottles, €42) has now become a Vino de Paraje. Made since 2013, this red comes from the site of the same name in Valtuille de Abajo, where the grapes easily reach full ripeness. The result is an enveloping wine with sweet fruit and round tannins. The grapes are grown in a vineyard planted in 1925 at 600 metres elevation on sandy soils with some clay. It is fermented with 50% of the stems and then aged in French oak barrels for 12 months.
They have also released two more reds from sites in Valtuille de Abajo, both from 95-year-old vines. El Rapolao (1,800 bottles, €38) is fermented with stems and shows plenty of concentration and acidity, so it will be worth seeing how it develops in bottle. La Vitoriana (only 600 bottles, €49) is a late-ripening plot with clay soils on a hillside protected by the Castro de la Ventosa. The grapes are fully destemmed, but the wine has plenty of herbal notes and is really fresh and deep, certainly the most characterful and energetic red in the portfolio.
40% of the wines are sold abroad.
