An outstanding student of the prestigious oenologist Raúl Pérez Pereira, she develops her activity in the family winery and from personal projects in Pajares de los Oteros
Sara González González González, only 24 years old, has been distinguished with one of the Juli Soler Awards for Talent and the Future of Wine during the gala The Wine Edition, organised by the Spanish Wine Academy and held at Madrid Fusión, the great gastronomic event that once again this week took place at the Instituto Ferial de Madrid (Ifema), in the spanish capital. The prestigious Juli Soler awards highlight the creative potential of a group of young people who, through their work in different areas of the wine industry (producers, oenologists, sommeliers, winemakers, etc.), stand out for their great professionalism.
The jury, as a first indicator of the extraordinary level of demand and importance of these distinctions, was composed on this occasion by the masters of wine Pedro Ballesteros, Fernando Mora, Almudena Alberca and Norrel Robertson, as well as the renowned critics and sommeliers Pilar Cavero, Ferrán Centelles, Benjamín Lana, María Naranjo and Patricia Mateo, all of them members of the advisory board of The Wine Edition Madrid Fusion 2023.
Sara González (Valencia de Don Juan, 1998) trained in viticulture at the CIFP San Rafael de la Santa Espina (Castromonte, Valladolid) and, despite her youth, has already acquired solid professional experience working in El Bierzo alongside the prestigious oenologist Raúl Pérez Pereira before taking on technical responsibilities at the family winery Margón (Pajares de los Oteros), part of the León Designation of Origin. More than three years ago, as part of his personal project, he produced the first Jagatas, a red wine aged for 24 months in barrels, to later expand the range with the Tremor red wine aged for 10 months and, with the 2022 vintage, with a second Jagatas rosé. Fascinated and enormously aware of the conservation and oenological aptitudes of the indigenous varieties Albarín and Prieto Picudo and of the old vines, she acquired the ownership of small vineyards of centenary vines saved from the land consolidation and the cutting of plots in different parts of Los Oteros to vinify very small batches with these grapes in limited editions of wines that stand out for their personality and extraordinary quality.
In her speech after receiving the diploma, Sara González made a plea in defence of young talent, imagination and the creative capacity of new winemakers, and also of the need to defend and promote the recovery of productive activity in rural areas. This award,” he said, “is a great stimulus for my dedication and the work and passion I feel for old vines and wine. But I would like to extend it to a generation of restless young people called to make the wine of the future. And it is also, of course, recognition for the emerging production area that is the León Designation of Origin and for two grape varieties, Albarín and Prieto Picudo, which are not only different and differentiating, but which are still to give their best”.
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