Castilla and Leon - another year of triumph on DWWA.

The landlocked region of Castilla y León in northwestern Spain is home to diverse and unique terroirs producing a wide range of wines. Occupying the northern half of Meseta Central, Castilla y León is the largest wine region in the country, geographically separated from Castilla-La Mancha and Madrid by the Sistema Central mountains. Outside of the historic cities of Salamanca and Segovia, its arid plains are still home to decadent shrub vineyards, and the mountains surrounding the region place vineyards on high mountain slopes. Historically, the most famous wines of Castilla y León were powerful red wines made from the Tempranillo variety, but today the region also produces impressive white wines.

This vast region is home to some of Spain's most recognizable wines, with its most famous appellations becoming household names known for their high-quality wines - as the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA), where as many as 461 medalists were awarded, shows. In addition to its famous POs, Castilla y León is also known as a source of excellent wines at an affordable price, especially due to the fact that the region is home to an extensive range of Vino de la Tierra wines. This classification offers the opportunity to experience the full diversity of creativity and innovation of wine producers, utilizing a wide range of grape varieties, and has resulted in outstanding wines based on Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir and Syrah/Siraz, as well as local varietals such as Prieto Picudo. These wines can be produced throughout Castilla y León, utilizing all the diversity of the region's terroirs. An impressive 33 awards, including 11 silver medals, were given to Vino de la Tierra wines including Albillo, Prieto Picudo, Tempranillo and red blends including international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot.

Perhaps the region's best-known DO, Ribera del Duero, has long produced long-lived, concentrated Tempranillo (locally known as Tinto Fino because of the smaller, more concentrated berry phenotype characteristic of Ribera). Not surprisingly, DO stood out at DWWA 2023 with a total of 210 medals.

This included 99 silver medals and an outstanding 15 gold medals - both improving on an already stunning DO result in 2022. Special mention, however, should be made of the four producers who received platinum medals, awarded to wines scoring 97 points or more: Bodegas Bardos, Pago de los Capellanes, Bodega Los Astrales and Bodegas Balbás.

The region's oldest DO, Rueda, located south of Valladolid, has earned its reputation for fresh, flavorful wines using the local Verdejo variety; a total of 94 wines from Rueda were awarded at this year's DWWA.

Toro, a small DO located between Rueda and Tierra de Vino de Samora, specializes in powerful red wines based on the local Tempranillo variety known as Tinta de Toro. DO also found favor with the DWWA judges, where 58 wines were awarded, including 28 silver medals. Gold medals were awarded to Viñaguareña's 2020 Munia Especial, which was described as "extremely perfect, intense and complex," and Bodegas Carodorum's 2018 Seleccion Especial, which the judges said was "exquisitely elegant, very concentrated and incredibly long," with both wines scoring 95 points.

In the far northwest bordering Galicia, the small DO of Bierzo receives a stronger moderating influence from the Atlantic climate than the rest of Castilla y León, with a wetter and cooler climate and plains of clay and alluvial soils. This DO produces fresh white wines using the local Godelho variety and light red and rosé wines from the Mencia variety. At the DWWA, 35 medals were awarded to wines from DO Bierzo, including 14 silver medals and a gold medal for Tenoira Gayoso's La Padorniña Mencía 2020, which the DWWA judges rated at 95 points, calling it "truly remarkable" and "simply mesmerizing. "

Finally, for the glory of not only DO Bierzo but Castilla and Leon as a whole, Las Tres Filas Mencía from Bodegas y Viñedos Merayo was awarded the title of Best in Show as well as 97 points. DWWA judges were impressed with its "lively and persistent" flavor, "energy due to both ripe acidity and fresh but smooth tannins," and a "stony aftertaste, perhaps due to the region's shale soils." These results are even more impressive in the context of the serious challenges faced by Castilla y León wine producers in recent years. In a region already characterized by extreme conditions, droughts, heat waves and forest fires that threaten the wine industry and force new solutions in the face of severe and unpredictable weather events, the consistently high quality of Castilla y León wines in all appellations, both DO and Vino de la Tierra, is highlighted by the 2023 DWWA results, testifying to the commitment, ingenuity and determination of the region's winemakers.