The cooler 2021 produced very fresh whites; they started picking grapes with 12.1% to 12.2% alcohol, and the 2021 La Vizcaína La del Vivo has a profile similar to the 2018. They don't do malolactic in their whites, and the wines have very good freshness and acidity. It comes from two plots on clay and sand. Part of the wine was fermented and aged in tinaja and developed some flor that gives the wine a very tasty and spicy twist. This is the first year when they only used foudres (no more barrels). The lees are never stirred, and the profile of the wine is not leesy. There is austerity, and it is bone-dry, with the oak neatly folded into the wine. 9,000 bottles produced.

The 2020 La Vizcaína La del Vivo is super harmonious, tasty and balanced. The wine matured in two 2,500-liter oak foudres, and a small part fermented and matured in amphorae with skins. It's varietal and expressive and comes from two plots, one with sandy soils and another one in Cacabelos with some boulders. There's always a small percentage of Do?a Blanca in the blend. It's very dry and has a chalky texture. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2021.

2018 is a great vintage: The cycle was long and Godello ripened properly, so they avoided the excess bitterness on the finish, as you can see in the 2018 La Vizcaína La del Vivo. It's made the same way as in previous years: they use 500-liter oak barrels and one amphora with skins and flor that is used for the final blend. Having such perfect ripeness, the wine is very tasty, and there's no fruit but a lot more austerity—they select the vineyards (around two hectares) for that straight and austere character (there is a little bit of Do?a Blanca too, which adds to the austerity). It has a saline palate and some rugosity, complex, with no room for sweetness. I think this could live 10 years and develop great complexity. In 2019, they replaced some of the barrels with a 2,500-liter oak foudre. This is the most austere and serious white in its finest vintage. A white for purists and one that is going to develop very slowly. There are 4,000 bottles of this. It was bottled in September 2019.

Raúl Pérez thinks 2017 is his best vintage for white wines. Volumes are low, but the quality is high. The 2017 La Vizcaína la del Vivo has moderate alcohol, 12.3%, and had very good acidity. It has some herbal notes, hints of fennel and bay leaf with just a creamy and smoky twist. It's very tasty, marked by the soil, with a dry, stony sensation in the palate. The full clusters are pressed and there's no maceration with the skins, something they changed in the last few years, and it makes for leaner wines that seem to improve from vintage to vintage. In 2017 it transcends the character of the year, which was the earliest harvest on record. 4,500 bottles produced.

I also got to taste the 2015 La Vizcaína la del Vivo, which came from a vineyard in the zone of La Poulosa in the village of Valtuille de Abajo that was planted with Godello as well as reds and other white varieties. The wine was fermented in 500-liter oak barrels and old terracotta amphorae. It has a subtle nose, with contained ripeness (it's 11.8% alcohol!) and a flinty, gunpowder-like sensation. The palate is austere and mineral, serious, tasty, not as explosive as other vintages. This is more about the soil. I think this is going to age beautifully. Some 3,500 bottles were filled in March 2017.