Ultreia Petra 2021
HK$ 600.42
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The nose of the 2021 Ultreia Petra is completely different from the rest of the Ultreia range. This is only two barriques, despite the fact that he bought all the land in the cru; but some of the vines are in the process of being recovered, and some were replanted and not yet in production. So, he has all of the vineyard (around 0.7 or 0.8 hectares), and it is all surrounded by forest—there are no adjacent vineyards. This has a different character because of the slate soils, with it's earthy sensation but the very elegant tannins. It's a rare combination of power and elegance, with abundant but fine-grained tannins and along aftertaste, quite open and expressive.
Features
Type of wine
Pairings
Style
Occasions
Winery
Size
Country
Region
Appellation
Alcohol
13.5%
Grapes
Serving
Between 14ºC and 16ºC
Winemaking
Cold soaking. Fermented and aged for 12 months in 1.500 liters oak foudres.
Description
There is something almost monastic in the way Raúl Pérez approaches the vineyard. Born and raised in Valtuille de Abajo, in the heart of Bierzo in León, his relationship with the land is more contemplative than technical. Each wine he makes seems to be an intimate conversation with the plot it comes from, and Ultreia Petra is no exception. It was born as a silent homage to the stone and clay soil of the hillsides of Bierzo, a wine that does not seek to please everyone, but to tell a precise story: that of an old vineyard, ignored for years, where Raúl saw potential where others saw ruin.
This wine is mainly Mencía, but it does not walk alone. Within it, small proportions of Alicante Bouschet (Garnacha Tintorera) and indigenous white varieties such as Palomino, which emerge as whispers of freshness and tension. The plot from which it originates -north-facing, stony soils with limestone outcrops- delivers sparse, thick-skinned bunches of grapes with vibrant acidity. The continental climate with Atlantic influence allows for slow ripening, resulting in a restrained, austere and profound expression.
The Bierzo DO, often overshadowed by more commercial regions, finds in Ultreia Petra a declaration of principles: there is greatness here, but it is not evident; there is depth, but it is not immediate. You have to know how to look.
Winemaking
The grapes are harvested by hand in small boxes, with meticulous selection in the vineyard. Raúl prefers to intervene as little as possible, convinced that the fruit, if it is noble, needs more patience than manipulation. The clusters of Ultreia Petra are fermented with indigenous yeasts, in large open wooden vats, often with the stems included, to provide structure and rusticity.
The ageing of Ultreia Petra takes place in used foudres and barrels of various uses, always French oak, for 12 to 14 months. There is no filtering or fining: the wine is bottled as it is, with its small impurities which are not defects but parts of the whole. There is no make-up. No artifice. There is full confidence in what the land has given us.
Taste
Ultreia Petra is a Bierzo red wine of long silences. It does not launch itself to shout fruit or wood from the glass; it glides stealthily, like the walk of someone who knows every stone on the path. On the nose, notes of black cherry, graphite, black tea and dry leaf appear, with a slightly earthy background, like damp soil after the storm. There is an herbal, almost medicinal note, reminiscent of wild thyme and plum skin.
The palate is compact, sharp and shady, like a hand-carved stone. The acidity is vertical, clean, but never aggressive. A wine that doesn't enrapture, but tenses; that doesn't envelop, but points. The fruit -black, precise, not overripe- is wrapped in a structure of fine but firm tannins, reminiscent of the pulse of the great reds of the north.
The finish is long, with echoes of wet slate, under-ripe pomegranate and dry cocoa, leaving a dry, almost saline sensation that begs for food, conversation, pause. It is not an easy wine, nor should it be. It is a wine that demands attention, that reveals more of itself with every minute of air, with every degree of temperature, like a face that only shows its scars when the light is dim.
Ultreia Petra does not seek to please everyone. Only those who are willing to listen.
Shipping to Hong Kong
Estimated transit time: 3 working days.
| Bottles | Price | Complete box |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 6 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 7-11 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 12 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 13-17 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 18 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 19-23 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 24 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 25-29 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 30 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 31-35 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 36 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 37-41 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 42 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 43-47 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 48 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 49-53 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 54 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 55-59 bottles | HK$ 139.70 | 60 bottles, Free shipping! |
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