Esencia Rural - Pampaneo Ancestral 2021

Julián Ruiz Villanueva is the godfather of Spanish orange wine. Actually, in his eyes it's just white wine. His family has been making it this way long before "everybody and their mother," as he puts it, started making orange wine. In fact, he has a problem with a lot of the orange wine being made in Spain as he feels most people are taking shortcuts. When you taste his wines, you'll understand what he means. We're talking a minimum of 3 months on the skins...

His region is one of the largest wine producing regions in Spain and is maybe known for the wrong reasons. The same could be said of the Airén grape used mostly for bulk and distilling but in Julian's hands it's nothing but compelling and nuanced. That said, his wines can be polarizing as his winemaking is super extreme as is his impeccable organic farming practice. Agriculture is his life with grapes being only one of the many crops he grows. Black garlic, peppers, onions, potatoes, saffron....if La Mancha has it, he grows it.

Hand harvested, spontaneous yeast fermentation in stainless steel. Finishes in the bottle (made using the Ancestral Method) several months after harvest. Typically ages up to a year in bottle, disgorged to order.

Producer: Esencia Rural 

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla-La Mancha

Varietal: Airén

Appellation: Toledo

Vintage: 2021

Size: 750ml