Javier Sanz Rueda Verdejo 2023

Javier Sanz's vineyards are laid out in a mosaic of plots and small vineyards within the Valladolid municipality of La Seca. Painstaking work takes place in the vineyard to ensure the best quality grapes are grown and yields are kept low: severe winter pruning, de-budding, and de-leafing to help ripening and crop thinning to reduce yields and maintain high-quality fruit. The plot is planted with bush vines, keeping the grapes close to the ground and allowing them to ripen at night due to the heat retention of the soil while protecting them from excessive heat and sunlight during the day. Resistant to weather and disease, these vines are labour-intensive to harvest. They grow well in gravelly pebble soils, which are poor in organic matter and have good drainage. With its large diurnal temperature swings, the continental climate sees the high daytime temperatures tumble by up to 20 degrees at night. The cold winters and rains in spring and autumn help the grapes reach the characteristic acidity Verdejo is known for.