Bierzo goes Burgundy: 2022 César Márquez El Rapolao and Sufreiral
Bierzo goes Burgundy: 2022 César Márquez El Rapolao and Sufreiral
by streetfighterthemovi
3 Comments
streetfighterthemovi
You may not have heard of César Márquez, but if you know Bierzo, you’ve probably heard of his uncle, Raúl Pérez. Perez is a star winemaker who works mostly in Bierzo, and who over the past 20 or so years has helped establish the DO as one of Spain’s best. Part of that is due to his skill as a winemaker—he makes banger after banger through his Ultreia label, amongst others—but in the mid-2010s, he also helped establish a new system of classification modelled on Burgundy’s nested crus and appellations.
The largest of these is DO Bierzo—the AOC Bourgogne of the bunch. Following that, in order from broadest classification to narrowest, are Vino de Villa, which is essentially a village cru; Vino de Paraje, a lieu-dit, or named place, within that village; Vino de Viña Clasificada, a single vineyard within a paraje; and lastly, Gran Vino de Viña Clasificada, which further reduces maximum allowable yields and stipulates a minimum vineyard age. As best as I can tell, there are 29 villages and more than 400 parajes. As for named vineyards, this system was only approved in 2017, so I don’t think there are many out there yet, but you’ll get an idea of the DO’s potential if you poke around some of the[ interactive maps on its website](https://www.crdobierzo.es/en/clasification/) (they’re very cool and worth checking out if that’s your thing). Going by the numbers, it’s an ambitious scheme.
Anyway, I think this post implicitly promised some discussion of the wine, so here we go. Off the top, it’s clear that César Márquez has learned plenty from his uncle—even opened too early, these are great wines. Sufreiral and Rapolao are both paraje wines, with the former coming from the village of Toral de los Vados and the latter from Valtuille de Abajo. They’re both majority mencia and rounded out by small percentages of Alicante Bouschet and other grapes, aged for a year in used French oak tonneaux, and clock in at 13% abv. Sufreiral is situated 620 metres above sea level and has limestone soil, while Rapolao is at 540 metres on clay. I Coravined both and let them open up in the glass for about 30 minutes before diving in.
Rapolao is cooler, and it shows. There’s some red fruit and florals on the nose—cherry, strawberry, violet, even a faint jamminess—but it quickly transitions to a cooler herbal character, showing fennel, wet leaves, and earth. That palate follows suit, adding a medicinal quality along with some smoke, but little oak influence beyond that. There’s a taut acidity, grippy young tannins, and concentration and intensity enough to clearly express its provenance. Like this marathon post, the finish is pretty lengthy.
The Sufreiral is richer and rounder than the Rapolao—almost shockingly so—but as you’d expect, the wine is still comparable. It likewise shows red fruit, but it’s denser, a bit more confected, and is joined by just a touch of plummy black fruit, too. Its earthy side leans more toward wet stones than wet leaves, with some toast emerging on the palate as well. The Sufreiral’s tannins are silkier than the Rapolao’s, but despite its riper profile, its acidity felt like an even match. Still, these are individualistic, characterful wines.
That kind of distinction, I expect, is what Bierzo’s regulator is aiming for. Again, the wines are comparable and of a type, but the lasting impression of each is akin to the difference between a Marsannay and a Nuits-St-Georges. In these two wines, it’s not hard to imagine that, in time, people will speak not of Bierzo, but of parajes and viña clasificadas.
Anyway, César Márquez is a talented winemaker and someone to watch. And while these two wines are still too young, they’re worth looking out for and holding onto for a few years—it’s hard to imagine them not getting even better.
IAMFRAGEN
Thanks for the notes. I love Bierzo and Mencia/Jaen. I have had this pair in the cellar waiting for the right company to drink them side by side. This will be the year!
RichtersNeighbour
Thanks a lot for this high quality post! I do drink some Mencía but haven’t really started going deep into it.
3 Comments
You may not have heard of César Márquez, but if you know Bierzo, you’ve probably heard of his uncle, Raúl Pérez. Perez is a star winemaker who works mostly in Bierzo, and who over the past 20 or so years has helped establish the DO as one of Spain’s best. Part of that is due to his skill as a winemaker—he makes banger after banger through his Ultreia label, amongst others—but in the mid-2010s, he also helped establish a new system of classification modelled on Burgundy’s nested crus and appellations.
The largest of these is DO Bierzo—the AOC Bourgogne of the bunch. Following that, in order from broadest classification to narrowest, are Vino de Villa, which is essentially a village cru; Vino de Paraje, a lieu-dit, or named place, within that village; Vino de Viña Clasificada, a single vineyard within a paraje; and lastly, Gran Vino de Viña Clasificada, which further reduces maximum allowable yields and stipulates a minimum vineyard age. As best as I can tell, there are 29 villages and more than 400 parajes. As for named vineyards, this system was only approved in 2017, so I don’t think there are many out there yet, but you’ll get an idea of the DO’s potential if you poke around some of the[ interactive maps on its website](https://www.crdobierzo.es/en/clasification/) (they’re very cool and worth checking out if that’s your thing). Going by the numbers, it’s an ambitious scheme.
Anyway, I think this post implicitly promised some discussion of the wine, so here we go. Off the top, it’s clear that César Márquez has learned plenty from his uncle—even opened too early, these are great wines. Sufreiral and Rapolao are both paraje wines, with the former coming from the village of Toral de los Vados and the latter from Valtuille de Abajo. They’re both majority mencia and rounded out by small percentages of Alicante Bouschet and other grapes, aged for a year in used French oak tonneaux, and clock in at 13% abv. Sufreiral is situated 620 metres above sea level and has limestone soil, while Rapolao is at 540 metres on clay. I Coravined both and let them open up in the glass for about 30 minutes before diving in.
Rapolao is cooler, and it shows. There’s some red fruit and florals on the nose—cherry, strawberry, violet, even a faint jamminess—but it quickly transitions to a cooler herbal character, showing fennel, wet leaves, and earth. That palate follows suit, adding a medicinal quality along with some smoke, but little oak influence beyond that. There’s a taut acidity, grippy young tannins, and concentration and intensity enough to clearly express its provenance. Like this marathon post, the finish is pretty lengthy.
The Sufreiral is richer and rounder than the Rapolao—almost shockingly so—but as you’d expect, the wine is still comparable. It likewise shows red fruit, but it’s denser, a bit more confected, and is joined by just a touch of plummy black fruit, too. Its earthy side leans more toward wet stones than wet leaves, with some toast emerging on the palate as well. The Sufreiral’s tannins are silkier than the Rapolao’s, but despite its riper profile, its acidity felt like an even match. Still, these are individualistic, characterful wines.
That kind of distinction, I expect, is what Bierzo’s regulator is aiming for. Again, the wines are comparable and of a type, but the lasting impression of each is akin to the difference between a Marsannay and a Nuits-St-Georges. In these two wines, it’s not hard to imagine that, in time, people will speak not of Bierzo, but of parajes and viña clasificadas.
Anyway, César Márquez is a talented winemaker and someone to watch. And while these two wines are still too young, they’re worth looking out for and holding onto for a few years—it’s hard to imagine them not getting even better.
Thanks for the notes. I love Bierzo and Mencia/Jaen. I have had this pair in the cellar waiting for the right company to drink them side by side. This will be the year!
Thanks a lot for this high quality post! I do drink some Mencía but haven’t really started going deep into it.