I first met Raul Pérez in Montreal during a presentation of his wines at the Société des Alcools du Québec. It was immediately love at first sight for this friendly and authentic bearded winegrower as well as for his unique wines. Fascinated by the character, I decided to visit him in his stronghold of Valtuille de Abajo in Castilla during a trip to Spain.
Raul Pérez has been one of the most prominent winemakers in the Iberian Peninsula for several years. His wines are sought after by wine lovers. Some of his wines are as rare as they are sought-after and sometimes come from a single barrel. Along with Ricardo Pérez Palacios, he was one of the main architects of the wine revolution in Bierzo in the 1990s, a region that is now critically acclaimed for the quality of its wines. He has contributed to the restoration of the mencía grape variety, but also to the revival of certain grape varieties from the northwest of Spain, such as caiño or bastardo. Raul Pérez likes to experiment. The bottles of his Sketch vintage for example (which does not exist anymore), rested several months buried under the sand of the Atlantic Ocean off the Galician coast before being released on the market!
Raul Pérez runs three wineries in the northwest of Spain: two in Bierzo, the family bodega of Castro Ventosa in Valtuille de Abajo where he was born, in Ponferrada where he makes micro-cuvées under his own name, and in the neighboring region of León. His oenological skills have led him to participate in a large number of projects in several regions of Spain, but also abroad, including Portugal with Dirk Niepoort and South Africa with Eben Sadie.
Raul’s family has always worked in the wine industry. Some of the vineyards have belonged to the Pérez family since the 1750’s. Despite this, Raul was not predestined to become a winemaker. On the contrary, his ambition was to become a doctor. Raul took a liking to wine and decided to study oenology for three years in Valencia and then for another three years in Lugo, Galicia, to become an engineer. Once graduated, he took over from his uncle.
As Raul takes me on a tour of his vineyards, he explains that his philosophy is to be as hands-off as possible. Some parts of his vineyard are only lightly or not treated at all. And there are even some plots that are left completely untouched to see what kind of grapes they can produce… According to Raul, the soil of Bierzo is mostly clay with some sand. The clay gives fruitier and more acidic wines, the sand gives finer wines, but with a higher alcohol content.
What is Raul’s favorite part of being a winemaker? In his own words, it depends on the day. What he likes most is working in the vineyard more than in the cellar, because the contact with nature gives him a real sense of freedom. According to him, the most important thing in making a wine is not the terroir or the resulting grapes, it’s understanding the ecosystem in which the vine grows. “You can have a good terroir, but a bad grape, but also have a good grape, but not understand the space in which it grows! Everything is important. You can also have a very good terroir, and a great grape, but if the work in the winery is done badly, it ruins all the work done before!”. Raul has an eye for detail, all the grapes are harvested by hand and even pressed with the feet in a barrel for some cuvées.
For Raul, it is essential that people like his wines. “If people don’t like your wine or enjoy drinking it, then your job as a winemaker is meaningless. A wine can be made with the utmost respect for the winemaking and maturing techniques, and therefore be technically perfect on paper, but not to your taste. The fact that someone likes or dislikes your wine, in the end, is the only proof of quality that the winemaker receives and this is what guides me in my work.”.
When I ask Raul Pérez if he has any advice for young people who want to get into the business, he tells me that he doesn’t like to give advice and that everyone has the right to search for themselves and find their own way. When he started in the business in his twenties, his goal, even his obsession, was to know what the best yeast or machines on the market were. Today, he has no interest in those things. “The only advice I would give to young people is to try to understand the land they will be working on. Having a technical background is also advisable. Indeed, the more you know about wine, the better. But there are also people who have had no training and are great winemakers. I’m glad I had this technical training, it makes me feel much more secure and helps me understand things.
When Raul is asked if he has a particular preference or affection for one of his wines. He answers that he is the father of many children and that a father cannot choose between his children… His greatest tasting memory? A vintage port from the 1700s, not so much for its qualities as for the emotion that goes with it. “It was the oldest wine I’ve had that was drinkable! Opening old wines gives me a lot of pleasure and satisfaction, especially those I made about 20 years ago. It is the guarantee of great wines that you can open them 10-20 years later and they are still good!
If he were given the opportunity to make wine somewhere else on the planet? “It would be somewhere between Burgundy and Piedmont. Burgundy for personal taste, Piedmont for the beauty of its landscapes. But the place that gives me the most peace is South Africa. Maybe not so much for its wines, but because I love this country. Every time I go there, I feel very good”.
I would not have left Raul Pérez without asking him for some suggestions of good restaurants in the Bierzo. Here are his recommendations: in Villafranca del Bierzo, Meson Don Nacho (very good meats), in Ponferrada, La Perla (seafood and fish) and Gundin (tapas), in Villadepalos, Casa Gelo (the specialty is eel), in León, Cafe La Trainera. Finally, an emblematic dish of the Bierzo to try? The botillo del Bierzo, a product made from the remains of the meat of the pig, wrapped in the intestine of the animal for maturation and smoking before being consumed. The botillo, often accompanied by potatoes, chorizo and pimentón, is even the object of a controlled designation of origin!
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