Esmeralda García was born in Segovia, but her family comes from Santiuste de San Juan Bautista, a small village with 500 inhabitants that is part of the DO Rueda. Like other villages in the province of Segovia with distinctive sandy soils, Santiuste boasts a precious heritage of pre-phylloxera Verdejo vines.
Esmeralda has worked for leading producers in the area like Avelino Vegas (also based in Satiuste) and consults for Finca Caraballas, an organic estate in Medina del Campo (Valladolid). Her heart though lies with her family wines. She grows just under five hectares of extremely old Verdejo vines, aged between 140 to 210, according to her estimations. These grapes are the basis of a relatively large range of natural wines sold under the VT Castilla y León seal. “In a good vintage we may have yields of 3,500 kg per hectare,” she points out.
The new label designs, launched in the 2017 vintage, are inspired by the diversity of soils that Esmeralda works with. The flagship white is the tasty, sapid Santyuste (2,700 bottles, around €18 in Spain), a village wine made by pressing grapes directly and fermented in stainless steel tanks. One step above are four whites sourced from specific sites in the village. All of them retail at around €27 in Spain and are made in very small quantities (490 to 700 bottles each). Wines undergo a short skin maceration before passing through a vertical press. They are later fermented and aged for six months in 500-litre clay vessels.
Vallejo is particularly original as grapes are sourced from vines that are planted among buildings in Satiuste. El Carrascal lies at higher altitude in a sun-drenched, plateau-shaped area with distinctive gravelly soils —accordingly the wine is more powerful and structured. Fuentecilla, in contrast, is an area rich in water that flows down towards the river. The thin sand on the soil creates a rich, expressive profile. Vayuste is a real favourite. Grapes are sourced from a lower area located between the river and a pine trees area with beach-like sand resulting from marine fossilization. There’s plenty of tension in this briny but creamy white.
Finally, Las Miñanas is a single-vineyard Verdejo sourced from a 200-year-old plot. Fermentation and aging takes place in a 500-litre chestnut cask with some further aging in amphorae. Sold at around €32, this is the most expensive wine of the portfolio.
Esmeralda is experimenting with flor ageing in two wines: Mi Chico (from Carrascal vineyard) and Mi Chica (from Vayuste). Set to be released in May 2018, these wines have been aged for a year in Sherry casks. She also bottles 40 litres of the family Solera every year, a fortified wine stored in a 225-litre barrel where some flor may occasionally develop; it is usually topped up with young wine.
