2025 Telmo Rodriguez Basa Verdejo

This is an ideal aperitif wine, but also a beautiful accompaniment to many fish dishes. The slightly greenish-yellow wine is bursting with ripe pineapple, passion fruit, and pear. It is a lively wine with fine acidity and full juice, and has a long, slightly tingling finish. From the 2013 vintage onwards, the Basa is being approached differently. Telmo felt it was time for more complexity. Or in other words, a more serious style. Due to the unprecedented success of Rueda, the average quality has declined and most wines have started to resemble one another. The Basa now consists mainly of Verdejo supplemented with a small amount of Viura. A return to focusing on the grape that was at the origin of Rueda's success. Sauvignon Blanc is no longer part of the wine. The wine is broader in flavor and calmer in character, but as always, it remains a fantastic, refreshing, and serious wine. The Basa has aromas and flavors of citrus, tropical fruit, and beautiful mineral notes. The wine is particularly aromatic and bursts out of the glass. The bouquet displays notes of white fruit, citrus, blossom, boxwood, and minerals. On the nose, we detect plenty of dried exotic fruit, and the beautiful balance between freshness and complexity is unprecedented in this wine. The taste possesses loads of white fruit, the necessary body, and remarkable freshness. A fantastic white wine that leaves you wanting more.

Telmo Rodriguez, Spanish phenomenon

We spoke at length with Telmo Rodriguez once again. That is always a pleasure. When you sit down with him, you always learn something or he gives you food for thought. What makes this 'conscience of the Spanish wine world' so special?
When Telmo completed his studies in Bordeaux and subsequently interned with people like Chave (Hermitage), Clape (Cornas), and Dürrbach (Trévallon), he returned to Spain. There, he observed that other Spaniards who had studied in France were bringing French grape varieties and customs to Spain. As a result, wire training became increasingly common, whereas the Spanish system had always involved free-standing vines. Telmo concluded that he wanted to focus on Spain's old qualities, such as free-standing vines, indigenous grape varieties, and field blends. Additionally, he was the first in Spain to introduce modern labels and opposed the rigid Spanish wine laws.

Freestanding poles
Spain used to be a land of bush vines: the vines were spaced far enough apart per area and per vineyard so that each could access sufficient water. If you space vines far apart with wire trellising, the vine will grow tall and become much too large. Therefore, with wire trellising, you need many more vines per hectare. The problem, however, is that there is not enough water for this, so you have to irrigate in areas that often already suffer from a water shortage. Moreover, with free-standing vines, the grapes hang more in the shade, which reduces the risk of 'scorching' and leads to less stewed fruit and fresher acidity. The only disadvantage of free-standing vines is that vineyard management and harvesting require more manual labor. Telmo works almost exclusively with bush vines.

Native grape varieties
It was clear to Telmo that there are so many good indigenous varieties in Spain that importing 'the big five' (Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet, and Syrah) from France is not necessary at all. He was one of the first to produce good Rueda from Verdejo and Viura; he embraced Mencia and Godello in Valdeorras, Monastrell in Alicante, Moscatel in Malaga, Garnacha in Cebreros…. In the mid-nineties, he was still considered crazy for this philosophy, but now everyone is following in his footsteps.

Field blends
In the past, there were many vineyards in Spain with various grape varieties mixed together, also known as 'field blends'. A common criticism of field blends is that the varieties (which are harvested together) do not all ripen at the same time. Arguments in favor are that diversity and disease resistance increase, and that it enhances complexity. Telmo now has two vineyards with field blends in production. He makes Las Beatas in Rioja (named after the vineyard, the first vintage awarded 97 points by Parker) and Las Caborcas in Valdeorras. Beautiful, original wines!

Spanish wine laws
Telmo was the first to remove the word 'Reserva' from a Rioja in 1995. In his words: 'I ask my wines how long they want to stay in the wood'. One year, grapes can effortlessly handle 12 months of aging in wood, but in another, they cannot. There was consternation regarding Las Beatas: the Consecho initially did not want to approve the wine, made with a field blend, as Rioja… even though there was a time when all Rioja was made that way! The Consecho did not push this to the limit, and ultimately it was fortunate for them, given the enormously high international acclaim.