The jewel of Rueda
Jean Belondrade still thinks of himself as French, but his mannerisms and his habits of speech seem more Spanish to me. The view from the Belondrade winery takes in the undulating plains of central Castile, Spain’s breadbasket. Jean was a young man when he arrived here. Among the fields of cereal rolling off to the horizon there are slopes and gullies and enclaves of gnarly old vines and, in some places, carefully laid out new vineyards. For two generations, since Jean’s father Didier spotted the potential of the local Verdejo grape variety, the Belondrades have made their home here.
Spanish summers can get very hot. Here on the plain, it can easily reach 35 degrees on a summer’s day, then drop all the way down to 10 or 12 degrees at night when the wind sweeps away the heat. It’s great for winemaking; it means ripe grapes that are still naturally very fresh. As you visit the vineyards, you can see how vine training and planting density varies according to exposure (and also availability of water, though that isn’t obvious to the eye). The Belondrades really know what they are doing.
Verdejo was largely abandoned after the nineteenth century phylloxera epidemic destroyed so many vines. Latterly, it has been enjoying a renaissance, in which Belondrade has played no small part. The Rueda DO was created to showcase Verdejo, and since then the variety has largely fought off an incursionist challenge from Sauvignon Blanc. Belondrade’s Quinta Apolonia is a young vine cuvee. 2021 was ultimately a great vintage for it; true, rain during budding sharply reduced yields, to Jean’s chagrin. But he admits that the (relatively!) cool summer meant the grapes matured a little more slowly than usual, which in turn was great for the development of complex aromatics. In the cellar, it was given a little lees-stirring and a short stay in older oak barrels, which has brought a touch of richness to counterpoint Verdejo’s naturally crisp character. The aromatics are very varietal, peach, bay and blossom. The wine as happy with grilled vegetables or smoked salmon as it is chilled, alone, straight from the fridge. /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold
