Barco del Corneta - La Seca, Valladolid, Castilla y León
Barco del Corneta began sailing in 2007, when Beatriz Herranz returned to her hometown and planted five hectares of Verdejo on old family land in the village of La Seca. During the first years, Beatriz combined her work in the La Seca vineyard with her work in the wineries of Méntrida and later in Cebreros. In 2010, Beatriz and a group of friends created the first vintage of Barco del Corneta. Félix Crespo could not be absent among those friends and the project continues until this day. Together they have created an artisan wine; a Verdejo that is farmed organically, harvested by hand, fermented with wild natural yeasts, and a very different wine from the typical of the Verdejo variety.
Barco del Corneta Cucú (Cantaba La Rana) 2021
100% Verdejo planted at 750-850 meters in the Cantarranas ecological vineyard (planted 2008), in La Seca and the Aldeanueva del Codonal vineyards, in Segovia.
Winemaking: Direct press with spontaneous fermentation and aging in stainless steel (75%) and 300L Used French Oak (25%) for 4 months. Gentle clarification and filtration before bottling.
Production: 6,200 cases
Barco del Corneta Cucú (Cantaba La Rana) 2022
100% Verdejo planted at 750-850 meters in the Cantarranas ecological vineyard (planted 2008), in La Seca and the Aldeanueva del Codonal vineyards, in Segovia.
Winemaking: Direct press with spontaneous fermentation and aging in stainless steel (80%) and 300L Used French Oak (20%) for 4 months. Gentle clarification and filtration before bottling.
Production: 8,000 cases
Barco del Corneta 2020
100% Verdejo planted at 750-850 meters in the Cantarranas ecological vineyard (planted 2008), in La Seca.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in 10 kilo boxes and taken to the cellar where the clusters are also selected by hand. Barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged 9 months on the lees without bâtonnage. Gentle clarification and filtration before bottling without cold stabilization.
Production: 612 cases
Barco del Corneta 2021
100% Verdejo planted at 750-850 meters in the Cantarranas ecological vineyard (planted 2008), in La Seca.
Winemaking: Hand harvested in 10 kilo boxes and taken to the cellar where the clusters are also selected by hand. Barrel fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged 10 months on the lees without bâtonnage. Gentle clarification and filtration before bottling without cold stabilization.
Production: 1,041 cases
Professional Reviews
RP 91: Barco del Corneta Cucú 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: January 31, 2023
The 2021 Cucú is their young organic Verdejo from their own vineyards plus purchased grapes from Aldeanueva del Codonal (Segovia), with 25% of the volume fermented and matured in barrel. It's varietal, fresh and young, with good ripeness and 13.5% alcohol, keeping a pH of 3.4 and 5.48 grams of acidity. It's varietal, with notes of yellow fruit and straw, fresh, velvety and with a dry and clean finish. 74,789 bottles produced. It was bottled in four lots.
RP 94: Barco del Corneta 2020
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: January 31, 2023
The expressive, open, clean and varietal Verdejo 2020 Barco del Corneta was produced with grapes from a single plot and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 300-, 500- and 600-liter oak barrels where the wine matured with the lees (without bâtonage) for nine months. 2020 was a cooler and wetter year, and the wine shows good ripeness without excess, with 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.2 denoting freshness. It's evolving slowly in bottle and has the ingredients and balance to develop nicely in bottle. Very serious, austere and mineral, very good! 7,343 bottles were filled in September 2021.
RP 93: Barco del Corneta 2021
Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez
Issue Date: January 31, 2023
Tasted next to the 2020 the 2021 Barco del Corneta feels a little riper and rounder, reflecting a slightly warmer end of the season with a barrel-fermented wine that finished with 13.9% alcohol and a pH of 3.27, keeping the balance. The oak is well integrated, as they used different sizes of barrels—300, 500 and 600 liters, only 10% new—where the wine was kept for nine months with the lees but no bâtonnage. This comes from their vines in La Seca, organically farmed and certified, and the wine shows serious and with some austerity on the palate despite the warmer year and the rounder wine. It's 12,327 bottles. It was bottled in August 2022.
Decanter 93 - Barco del Corneta Cucú 2021
Reviewed by: Sarah Jane Evans, MW
Barco del Corneta's old-vine Verdejo is sourced from outside the Rueda DO, but this is such a vibrant and joyous example it has to be included here. It's unoaked and gloriously vivid with lime leaf, lemon zest, racy acidity and a burst of succulent stone fruit. Organic. Drink 2022-2026 Alc 13.5%.
