La Otea

The still-unreleased 2020 La Otea is from a challenging year with fungal diseases and a reduction of yields of around 30%. It's slightly lower in alcohol and acidity than the 2019 I tasted next to it; 2020 and 2019 are two very different years that show how the ancient ungrafted vines can be quite homogeneous and cushion the vintage effect in the wine. Starting in 2020, this wine contains grapes from other ancient and ungrafted vines, the original plot in Villanueva de Duero plus two more in Hornillos de Eresma, 100+ years old in a cooler place. The wine also has a subtle change of name—they removed the word Majuelo (plot) from the label. Another subtle change in 2020 is that they pressed the full clusters instead of the destemmed grapes. Despite the character and challenges of the vintage, this feels subtler, more harmonious and elegant, with more freshness and depth. He got very low yields in 2020, but the wine is fine-boned, not heavy; it's agile, balanced, long, expressive, clean and really impressive. 2,008 bottles and 30 magnums were filled in May 2022.