The Viñedos de la Reina Estate
- Founded in 2006 by the Curiel family, this is one of the only wineries which specializes in wine made exclusively from Valle de San Vicente. All wines are made from estate grown grapes, picked and sorted by hand.
- The winery name, which translates to “Vineyards of the Queen” was meant to honor the wife of the head of the founding family.
- With a broad and deep experience in wine, the Curiel family started this project with the intention of showing that Mexico could make wines with the kind of profound structure and balance required for a wine to age gracefully. True to their intentions, these are some of Mexico’s finest wines given time in the cellar and they reward those who have the patience to allow them to age.
- Originally from Chile, winemaker Hector Leonardo Villaseñor Neira now lives in Valle de Guadalupe. His background is in making wines with an organic and biodynamic focus.
- Their vineyards lie adjacent to the Pacific in Valle de San Vicente and range in elevation from 300 to 800 ft and were planted from 2005 onward. It has a privileged climate and formidable rocky soils on the slope of a hill facing the sea. All vineyards are sustainably farmed with an emphasis on minimal use of resources.
Total production: 100 acres under vine, 10 wines, 9,000 cases
2020 Syrah - Viñedos de la Reina
What to Expect and Drinking Window:
Buyers should know that the varietal (white label) wines from this estate are “serious” wines that while they can be consumed in their youth will reward those who take the time to cellar them. Like the rest of the Reina line up, the Syrah is “classic” and would be read as a top-flight Syrah in all settings. Tightly wound, it is going to take some time to unpackage all this wine wants to say but given the balance and structure it is most certainly going to be worth it.
293 cases made
Drinking Window: Upon release (with a generous decant) - 15 years
Vintage:
2020
Blend:
100% Syrah
Producer:
Vinedos de la Reina
Winemaker:
Hector Leonardo Villaseñor Neira - Chilean, now lives in Mexico
Vineyards:
Valle de San Vicente - Estate vineyards with sandy soils high in mineral content on the slope of a hill that faces the sea. The 15 acre plot of syrah is at an elevation of 980 feet and was planted in 2008.
Winemaking:
After a long harvest to pick and sort for the best grapes, the clusters were destemmed and pressed and left to ferment in stainless steel tanks for a long low temperature period of 40 days. After fermentation was complete the wine was transferred into 2nd use French Oak barrels and left to age for 15 months before bottling. Only medium filtration was applied and 40 ppm sulfites added at bottling.
Farming:
Sustainable
Alcohol:
14.0%
