Winemakers Beatriz Herranz and Félix Crespo are childhood friends whose love of Rueda wines inspired them to go in together on a winery in La Seca, in the Spanish province of Valladolid. Their goal is to change minds around the world about what the Verdejo variety and the Rueda D.O. are capable of. The soils in La Seca are mainly sedimentary on a bedrock of limestone, and climate allows them to work organically in the vineyards. Beatriz and Félix have put their heart and soul into truly getting to know Verdejo. Near Cantarranas lieu-dit at 700 meters elevation, lie the family’s five and a half hectares of vineyards; they are right next to a pine grove which gives its name to Barco del Corneta and which used to a family’s meeting point during the harvest fiestas. Dry-farmed and organically grown, Verdejo vines are planted on sandy, pebbly soils with limestone in their deepest layers. They prefer working under Tierra de Castilla regional appellation which offer them more freedom to follow their own winemaking principles.
In addition to complex Verdejo wines of terroir, they also make a red wine from vineyards in the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, on the border with Portugal. This is part of a recovery project to protect indigenous vines and to promote regional biodiversity. The wine they make from here, named Prapetisco, and is a blend of Juan Garcia, Rufete and a smattering of Bastardillo Chico, Malvasia and Punta en Cruz from old vineyards, planted about 80 years ago at 750 meters of elevation. Two vineyards are mostly granite, the other two are schist. There is an agreement with the single owner of the four small vineyards to farm organically with plant potion treatments when needed. It is hence organic viticulture. The fruit is brought to the winery in La Seca for vinification.
Beatriz and Félix prefer to make wine in as natural a manner as possible. They rely on only native yeasts for their fermentations, avoid filtrations, too much intervention and low sulfur additions. Barco del Corneta is a winery to watch in a region that’s gaining more and more international attention for their complex wines of terroir.
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