Feature : Rueda

Palacio de Bornos Winery

This large winery started producing wine in 1976. In 1978, they were the first to make sparkling wine in Castilla y León. Today, Palacio de Bornos owns over 300 hectares of vineyards in Rueda, Pollos, and La Seca. These vineyard sites contain a clay-limestone sub-soil below a gravelly top of pebbles providing excellent drainage. Today they produce 5 million bottles of wine per year.

We met with Christian Bungard, Export Director, for a tour and tasting.

Wines Tasted:

•Palacio De Bornos Verdejo 2021 ****1/2 $13-16

100% Verdejo.

Greenish gold straw. Wide bouquet, floral. Scents of dry apples, delicious, lush fruits, apples. One million bottles were made.

•Palacio De Bornos La Caprichosa 2021 ***** $19-24

100% Verdejo with three months of aging on the lees in the barrel. The grapes were grown on bush vines.

Gold straw color. Mineral and stone notes on the nose. Lush and long, elegant finish.

Twenty-five thousand bottles were made.

•Palacio De Bornos Sauvignon Blanc 2021 ****1/2 $13-16 Scents of peach and melon. Gold straw color. Lush tropical fruits, grapefruit, grass, and asparagus.

Great bright wine that is lush with acidity.

Five hundred thousand bottles made. Available with cork or screw cap closures.

•Palacio De Bornos Barrel-Fermented Verdejo 2021 ***** $20

100% Verdejo. They are aged 4-6 months in new French oak. Gold straw color. Perfume, polished scents. Lovely spicey oak and caramel flavor.

Unami flavors of mushrooms and forest floor. This is a different style of Verdejo. hirty thousand bottles were made.

•Palacio De Bornos Brut Sparkling Wine NV ****1/2 (Not available in the US) https://www.palaciodebornos.com/en/

100% Verdejo. 9 months traditional méthode champenoise. Golden straw. A very pleasant, low yeast and white flowers. Later that evening we enjoyed a personal dinner with the Director of the Rueda DO and several winemakers.