A Ronda wine in the Spanish top

Vetas Mar de Tethys 2010 has been chosen as the best wine in Spain in Magnum format at the prestigious CIVAS competition. This wine from Ronda, 100% petit verdot aged 24 months in barrels, scored 99 points out of a possible 100 and won the Grand Gold Medal. This recognition is particularly valued by the winery as the scoring was done through a double blind tasting.

“The Magnum format, with its slow and elegant evolution, has given us the best version of our history. Thank you for believing in patience and the magic of time,” said the Ronda winery after receiving this recognition.

This new award once again places Ronda wines at the top national level, reaffirming the suitability of this small production area for making high-quality wines. Specifically, the petit verdot variety is one of the grapes that is producing great red wines in various wineries in the area.

In this regard, the head of the winery, Javier Vetas, stated after presenting this wine that “I believe it is one of the best grapes in the area. It certainly requires a lot of patience, but if there is a place with the ideal characteristics for this grape, it is the Serranía de Ronda.”

He also added that “there are great wines in the south of Spain that use this grape and, of course, Ronda leads, I believe, in both number and quality.”

Indeed, its plant is a kind of “wild horse” of the vineyards that requires constant attention. “Other plants grow towards a specific place, you prune them and that’s it, petit verdot sometimes lies down, sometimes grows upwards and when you prune it, it sprouts another branch in another direction.”

Statements that are now fully confirmed with the award given to this monovarietal of which only 1,858 bottles are produced. Moreover, it only comes to market if the vintage meets the maximum quality standards self-imposed by the winery, so only the 2010 and 2012 vintages can be found.

“From the very day of the harvest our father was saying that it would be a wine for eternity and so it has been, it will be very difficult to surpass this vintage, practically impossible,” Vetas maintained.

15 years to reach the market

However, one of the great secrets of this wine is the “patience” of those responsible for this small winery, which is less than two hectares, and who did not hesitate to wait 15 years to find the sweetest point of the 2010 vintage.

Similarly, he also highlighted the importance of such an award for the area, stating that “we are very happy to bring such a prize to Ronda, which is difficult to achieve and, truthfully, Ronda is increasingly earning the positions it deserves both nationally and internationally.”

As for the price for those who want to try it, it is 120 euros at the winery. Additionally, this wine is now available in prestigious restaurants like Bardal (2 Michelin stars), Blossom (1 Michelin star) and will soon be featured in some of Antonio Banderas's venues.

This award comes after a new phase for the winery, as the Vetas brothers have taken over from their parents who were the creators of the winery.