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El Rapolao – expressions of a single Bierzo vineyard

Old vines in the Rapolao vineyard, Bierzo, Spain

A report on the first-ever blind tasting of different wines produced from the same very special vineyard in Bierzo.

El Rapolao is the closest construct to Clos de Vougeot that Spain currently has. While the entire vineyard stretches over about 26.5 ha (65.5 acres) between the villages of Valtuille de Abajo and Villadecanes in Bierzo, the part we are talking about in this article is limited to the part that belongs to Valtuille de Abajo – just 8.08 ha (19.97 acres) of vineyard.

Valtuille de Abajo is a very curious village. The latest census counted only 80 inhabitants, yet 11...