The Rueda wine region is located in the Duero river valley, about 90 miles northwest of Madrid, in the middle of Spain's high central plateau. The climate is continental, with cold winters, late frosts, and hot, dry summers. Rueda Blanco made from the local Verdejo grape was produced during the Roman empire and was drunk in the Spanish Court when it resided in Valladolid during the middle ages and it continued to be an important white wine until it nearly disappeared after phylloxera wiped out almost all the vineyards in the early 20th Century. When it came time to replant, the more famous and productive grape, Palomino from Jerez, was used and it wasn’t until the famed Rioja producer Marques de Riscal produced a Rueda using Verdejo in the 70s that the grape began its comeback, becoming the most popular white wine in Spain in the 1990s. Bodegas Cerrosol, a family estate based in Santiuste de San Juan Bautista near Segovia, farms vineyards in what many consider the finest sector of the appellation, where elevations between roughly 830 and 910 meters create wide day–night temperature swings that help preserve acidity and aromatic freshness. The region’s deep sandy soils—rare in Castilla y León—remain largely phylloxera resistant, allowing vines to grow on their own roots and contributing to the distinctive expression of Verdejo here. (Incidentally, another Rueda from this same area, the Nisia, also from very old vines on their own roots, was selected by a different brother for the June 2024 case.) The 2023 Viña Portalón takes its name from the vineyard itself, once reached through a large stone gateway that locals began referring to simply as “the big door.” The grapes are gently destemmed and cold macerated for several hours before fermentation in stainless steel at low temperature, followed by three months on the lees. The resulting wine shows the classic profile of Verdejo from this part of Rueda: straw yellow color with aromas of fennel, hay, and tropical fruit, and flavors of green melon, pluot, and almond paste with a touch of peach pit bitterness on the finish. There is enough intensity here to stand up to strongly flavored dishes like chicken or pork tacos.