Esmeralda García - Arenas de Santyuste, Verdejo, Rueda, Spain (2020)

SantYuste is made of direct press Verdejo from 130+ year old vines planted on a mix of sand, slate and clay. The wine displays strong mineral and saline character with subtle citrus notes. Fresh and sapid on the finish with a slightly creamy, textural volume resulting from long lees aging in stainless steel and clay jars.

Esmeralda García is a young Spanish winemaker working exclusively with Verdejo in her hometown of Santiuste de San Juan Bautista after several stints learning her craft with some of Spain's leading natural winemakers.

The vineyards she tends have been in her family for centuries where the dry, sandy soils have allowed the pre-phylloxera vines to thrive on their original rootstocks for up to 210 years. 

Esmeralda has four sites that all vary in altitude and soil composition, allowing her to bottle several cuvées with strikingly different profiles and the arid climate enables her to work without pesticides or chemical additives in the vineyard and cellar.