VERONICA ORTEGA
"My idea is always to make wines with an identity that reflect where they come from. I like wines that speak to you, that are lively and elegant, fresh and drinkable, but without being forced so they flow naturally."
After catching the wine bug in the 2000s in Jerez, Verónica Ortega moved away to Priorat where she worked with Daphné Glorian (Clos Erasmus) and Alvaro Palacios. She then decided to devote herself to the art of wine. That took her to work at many amazing wine-producing areas of the world like Burn Cottage in Central Otago NZ, Niepoort in the Douro, Comte Armand, and DRC in Burgundy. A final stop in Crozes-Hermitage rounded out her expertise before returning to Spain to work alongside Raúl Pérez in Bierzo, where she experimented and refined her vision before setting out definitively with her project in 2012.
Her winery is located in El Bierzo, a historic wine region in northwestern Spain. The region is shaped by its Atlantic influence, old vineyards, and diverse soils, offering exceptional conditions for viticulture.
At the heart of her winemaking is the Mencía grape, the native variety that thrives in Bierzo’s landscape accompanied by a very small proportion of other local varieties, both white and red. Often compared to Syrah for its wild, savory character, Mencía is highly expressive of its soil, altitude, and climate, making it an exciting grape for terroir-driven wines.
Verónica embraces a philosophy of minimal intervention, working with whole bunch fermentation for single-vineyard wines and using amphora aging to enhance purity and texture. She believes in letting the wines develop naturally, ensuring they retain their true identity. As she puts it: “Let it be to express its identity.” This careful balance between tradition and innovation allows her to craft wines that are elegant, fresh, and deeply connected to Bierzo’s unique terroir.
"It is really important to me that the wine expresses where it comes from. That it transmits its origin, because in the end, wine is a composition of place and time. With a both a broad and specific memory. Bierzo is a unique region. It´s a land of no-one, of silence, of soft mountains and with a special sort of light. Perhaps it’s nostalgic, being from Cadiz myself, but when I look to this light, I see the sea reflected in it."
"There are many emotional moments throughout the process of harvesting. The first day you taste the grape and you have the first information about the harvest. The day you decide start cutting and you can’t go back. When you start the fermentation and you arrive at the cellar in the morning and it smells like a bakery.
The wine becomes a living creature, bubbling and making noises. "
"In the end, an intimacy between you and the vineyard is created, it is a very special connection.
The most difficult years that I have experienced on a personal level have always been reflected in the harvest and vice versa.
I want to create wine using only my intuition. That is my way of interpreting my profession and for me what gives it magic."