Verdejo

Verdejo is a white grape variety which originates from the Spanish wine region Rueda and is grown almost exclusively in Castilian DO Cigales, Toro, Tierra de Léon and Rueda.

Previously heavily oxidized sherry -like wines from Verdejo were produced. The recent history begins in the 1970s, as the well-known wine producer Marqués de Riscal ( from the Rioja) sought an area for the cultivation of white wines with high quality requirements. The winemakers of Riscal Rueda were in by the French Professor Émile Peynaud attention to the vine Verdejo and recognized the tremendous potential of this grape with modern viticulture. Thanks to new technologies such as the rapid transport of the grapes to the cellar and the pressing of the grapes under a protective gas cushion the superior freshness of the new wine, could be preserved. The grape is extremely sensitive to oxygen, so it is read because of the cold night, when high qualities to be achieved. Verdejo should be mostly drunk young; Top qualities have a good framework to mature and develop after several years in the bottle has a nutty, creamy character.

The grape is usually processed together with the Palomino and Macabeo and increasingly with Sauvignon Blanc to a dry, fresh white wine.

See also the article Viticulture in Spain and the list of grape varieties.