Esmeralda García
Esmeralda García is a soulful and talented young winemaker based in Santiuste de San Juan Bautista, a small village of about 500 inhabitants that is part of the Rueda DO. After completing her studies and working with several leading winemakers around Spain, Esmeralda returned to her hometown in 2012 to tend to her family's ancient Verdejo vineyards. The vines – the youngest of which are around 130 years of age, and the oldest are well above 200 – are ancient biotypes that survived phylloxera due to the region's sandy, wind-blown soils. Because of this, yields from these ancient vines are very low, producing just a few bunches per plant and giving wines with exceptionally concentrated flavors and distinct expressions of terroir. The property covers about 5ha split over four organically farmed sites that vary in elevation and soil composition, allowing Esmeralda to bottle several 'Vino de Paraje' (place name) cuvées with strikingly different profiles. From the beginning, Esmeralda chose to make natural wines without any additives or sulfites. Bunches are hand-harvested and undergo a short skin maceration before passing through a vertical press. The wines then ferment spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in 500L dolias (Spanish clay amphorae) and age on their lees for 6-12 months before bottling without fining or filtration. Esmeralda's connection to the land and the vines is deeply personal and rooted in her own history. As Rueda continues to modernize and adapt to international palates, the riveting wines from Esmeralda's ancient Verdejo vineyards become of even greater historical importance.
