2024 Castro Ventosa El Castro Valtuille Mencia Joven

92 pts
Old-vine Bierzo Mencía from the Pérez family and Raúl Pérez, bright and slurpable. One of Spain's great bargains at 92 points.

Price:
Sale price$29.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Don't let the word 'Joven' fool you - the young bit refers to the wine, not the vines, and this comes entirely from old-vine Mencía parcels, mostly around the village of Valtuille in Bierzo. It's made by the Pérez family, custodians here for around 250 years, with the iconic Raúl Pérez and César Márquez Pérez making the wines together.

The fruit is fully destemmed, fermented in stainless steel with only a light pump over, then pressed after 18 days and given a short three months in large oak foudres. 2024 was a year of real purity of fruit, despite plenty of rain at harvest, and it shows: bright, crunchy and slurpable, with bramble, red currants, fresh herbs and violets over very fine, delicate tannins and a serious edge underneath. Great with a plate of chorizo, roast chicken or a mushroom pizza, and it'll be even better with a little time in bottle.

Old vines, a legendary winemaking family and a sub-$30 price. One of the great bargains of Spanish wine right here.

92 points
"This is always primary and fruit-driven by definition, ripe but fresh... The wine is agile and fine-boned with very fine tannins."
- Luis Gutiérrez (The Wine Advocate)

92 points
"A precise and focused expression... Wonderfully primary and full of energy."
- Vinous

92 points - "The only wine from 2024 I tasted was the very young red 2024 El Castro de Valtuille Mencía Joven, where young (joven) refers to the wine, as the grapes come from old vines. It fermented destemmed in stainless steel, pressed after 18 days and blended before Christmas, after which it was kept in oak foudres for three months. This is always primary and fruit-driven by definition, ripe but fresh, with 13.2% alcohol and a pH of 3.75, juicy and approachable. It's from a year with lots of purity of fruit, with a lot of rain during the harvest (like in the past). The wine is agile and fine-boned with very fine tannins. It would benefit from a little bit of time in bottle. They do different bottlings of this wine, as they produce around 100,000 bottles. It was bottled in May 2025." - Luis Gutiérrez (The Wine Advocate)

92 points - "This 2024 El Castro de Valtuille is crafted from pure Mencia, sourced from the family's ancient vine holdings spanning Valtuille, Cacabelos, and Villafranca. A precise and focused expression, it displays a sophisticated reductive character alongside vibrant notes of fresh violet and a succulent, juicy core. The wine is defined by its remarkable tension and a delicate, fine-boned texture that carries through to a floral-inflected finish. Wonderfully primary and full of energy." - Vinous

Joven only in style, sourced exclusively from old vine parcels mostly in Valtuille, this is fermented in stainless steel, fully destemmed and with only light pump over extraction. This is a wonderful expression of Mencia, Bierzo and the fine wines that Spain has to offer at an extraordinary price. Fragrant yet serious, bramble, red currants, fresh herbs, dried violets. Tannins are very delicate and fine.

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Mencía
Country Spain
Region Bierzo
Reviewed By The Wine Advocate
Vinous
Critic Score 92
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Cork

Castro Ventosa

Castro Ventosa is the Pérez family’s home estate in Bierzo, northwestern Spain, where they’ve grown grapes since at least 1752. Based in Valtuille de Abajo, it’s a producer built around generations of vineyard knowledge and an exceptional collection of old Mencía vines.

This is the family behind Raúl Pérez, one of Spain’s most influential winemakers. His nephew César Márquez now runs the cellar and day-to-day project, with Raúl contributing his experience.

The family owns its vineyards, including many parcels more than 85 years old. Different soils, slopes and exposures give each plot its own character, which becomes increasingly clear as you explore the village and individual vineyard wines.

Mencía is the main attraction, with Godello providing the whites. Larger barrels and gentle cellar work have brought greater freshness to the range, preserving the perfume and detail of the fruit.

We love the combination of old-vine depth and drinkability here. From the approachable reds through to the finest vineyard bottlings, Castro Ventosa is a terrific way to discover Mencía and the diversity of Bierzo.

Spanish winemaking legend Raul Perez Castro Ventosa

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Common Questions

Delivery is free on orders of $199 or more.

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

No sorry we do not have a store front and pickup is not available.

Yes, no problem. When placing your order select ‘Store at Different Drop and Delivery Later’ as your shipping method or reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order with additional instructions.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

Our warehouse is automated so unless you tell us otherwise, we will ship your order. If you would like us to hold your order please reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order and we are happy to store your order for up to 6 months at no charge. You can review our heat policy here.

Yes, of course. We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. You can see our price match policy here.

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

No, all prices are set at the full discounted dozen rate already.

Most wine retailers list at a single-bottle price and then discount 10–15% when you buy six or twelve. We've taken the opposite approach. Since the overwhelming majority of our orders are already 6 bottles or more, our list price is set for the case buyer from the start. There's no inflated single-bottle price to discount down from.

What that means for you:

- One price, same for everyone — no minimum to hit to unlock the best rate
- No mixed-six gymnastics to qualify for a discount
- Our single-bottle price is typically at or below a traditional retailer's by-the-dozen rate

Put simply: the box discount is already baked into the price.

**And if you find it cheaper elsewhere?** Let us know. If the same wine is available at a lower price at another retailer (including at their mixed-six or by-the-dozen rate) we're happy to match it.

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Regular Enquiries

Urgent Enquiries

02 8376 8775