Beth Willard, Sarah Jane Evans MW and Christine Parkinson tasted 120 wines, with one Exceptional, one Oustanding and 77 Highly Recommended.
Spanish Verdejo panel tasting scores
120 wines tasted
Exceptional 1
Outstanding 1
Highly recommended 30
Recommended 75
Commended 9
Fair 2
Poor 1
Faulty 1
Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their current-release vintages made from at least 85% Verdejo produced in any region of Spain.
Verdejo makes up a huge 40% of all white wine sold in Spain, and yet the most important producing region, Rueda, sends less than 15% of its wines to overseas markets. So what do the Spanish see in this variety that others are missing?
Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top-scoring Spanish Verdejo wines
While grown throughout Spain, it is in the expansive region of Castilla y León where the Verdejo grape reigns. High on the windy and sparsely populated plains of the Meseta Central, north of Madrid, the variety fully develops its showy lime and tropical aromas with racy acidity.
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The top scoring Spanish Verdejo wines:
{}
{"wineId":"56244","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56245","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56246","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56248","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56247","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56250","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56249","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56252","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56251","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56254","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56253","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56255","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56256","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56257","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56265","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56266","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56268","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56270","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56271","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56272","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56273","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56274","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56258","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56259","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56260","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56261","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56262","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56263","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56267","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56269","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{"wineId":"56275","displayCase":"standard","paywall":true}
{}
The judges
Beth Willard is buying director for independent merchant Winetraders UK, with a focus on Spain and Eastern Europe, and former buying manager at Direct Wines. A member of Spain’s Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino, she was a joint Regional Chair for Spain at DWWA 2021
Sarah Jane Evans MW is an awarded journalist, author and broadcaster, and a DWWA Co-Chair. Author of The Wines of Northern Spain (Infinite Ideas, 2018), she is also chair of Spain’s Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino
Christine Parkinson is co-founder of Brimful Drinks, developing products in the no & low-alcohol sector. She was formerly at Michelin-starred Hakkasan Group over 18 years as a buyer, latterly as its group head of wine. Numerous career awards include The Caterer’s Wine & Spirits Ambassador Catey in 2018
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