Tasting Notes
Wine Advocate 94
The first wine Bastegieta tried in his life (that he remembers) was a red from Toro, and he told me that he never forgot the violets in the wine. So, he purchased a vineyard that he farms organically (but it’s not certified) and produced a first wine: the 2020 Kuusu. It’s from vineyard that was planted in 1920, a 0.9-hectare plot (called La Vina del Senor) on sand and sandstone soils rich in quartz, where he has some 8% Albillo Mayor white grapes in the village of Villabuena del Puente, within the limits of the DO Toro. It fermented in an open-top oak vat complemented with plastic bins (when necessary) and then matured in used 600-liter oak barrels. The wine is floral and has more elegance than the majority of wines from the zone, and it has a "moderate" 14% alcohol and a lot of freshness and balance. With time, it develops a note of tomato juice that’s quite curious. It’s medium-bodied, has a very fine thread and is textured, balanced and fresh. It’s very tasty and finishes with a chalky sensation on the palate. The wine is sold without appellation of origin. He has purchased more vineyards, including some ungrafted vines, to complete 3.8 hectares, and that’s what the project is going to be. In this first vintage, he only produced one 600-liter barrel that filled around 800 bottles.
Anticipated maturity: 2022-2028
