Vallegarcia Viognier 2015

You would think growing up with no one to talk to would be lonely. But the lost princess knew no different. She'd been taken away so young she had no sense of the world beyond the thorns the witch had trapped her within. She had the birds, the creatures all to bring friendship as she grew.

Perhaps it was because she was unspoilt that the grapes she tended grew so well. A pip, brought her by a little bird, was all she had to start. But she spent years joyfully tending the growing vines, the fragrance of which - of flower blossom, fruit baskets and honey wax - was spellbinding. Little wonder, really, that scent drew a man through the thicket to rescue her. You won't have to worry about thorns though. Just have a corkscrew to hand.

In 1997, Mr. Alfonso Cortina, a great connoisseur of French wines and estate owner of Los Montes de Toledo, asked well known Australian winemaker Dr. Richard Smart to design a vineyard for him. The first Vallegarcia vineyard was first planted in 1999 and the first harvest took place two years later. The following four years were spent carefully elaborating wine in small quantities at the neighbouring winery, Dehesa del Carrizal. In recognition of the quality of these first wines, Cortina was encouraged by experts to set up his own winery which opened in the September of 2006, inaugurated by HM The King Juan Carlos I.

The vineyards at Vallegarcia are designed for making well balanced wines that respect both the individuality of the grape variety and the expression of the terroir they are grown on.

Adolfo Hornos Prados, agricultural engineer and master of oenology and viticulture, has been a winemaker at Vallegarcia since the beginning. Initially he was responsible for the vineyard but later participated in the winery project by planning and implementing the production process. Today he is directs in the cellar, manages the vineyard and wine production whilst actively participating in the sales and marketing side of the business.