Vinduero-Vindouro awards the white wine “Pincerna Albarín” and the rosé wine “Gurdos” as the best in their categories and accredits another 13 awards; the Vinos de León-Vile and Melgarajo wineries collect 13 more at the prestigious IWSC

The wineries affiliated with the Regulatory Council of the León Designation of Origin closed the season of major international competitions with an extraordinary total of eighty medals, mostly gold, for their wines made from the Albarín and Prieto Picudo grape varieties. The cross-border Vinduero-Vindouro competition, which usually brings the competition cycle to a close, awarded its highest accolade, the Gran Arribe de Oro, to the white wine “Pincerna 2024”, made from the Albarín grape variety (95.33 points out of 100) and produced by the Pincerna winery (Grajal de Campos), and the rosé “Gurdos 2024”, made from Prieto Picudo (95.70) and produced by the Gordonzello company (Gordoncillo). Having achieved the highest scores among all the samples submitted, both wines are recognised as the best in their categories.

The same competition awarded a silver medal to the Albaricus 2024 (89.30), also made from Albarín grapes, from Vitis Velado (Castrotierra de Valmadrigal), in the category of non-aged white wines, and a gold medal to the Kyra 2021, made from the same variety and from Gordonzello, in this case in the aged white wine class. However, it was the Prieto Picudo rosés from the DO León that stole the show at the competition, taking four of the top six places, as the grand gold medal for “Gurdos” was joined by gold medals for “Castillo de Valmadrigal 2024” (91.30), from Vinícola Valmadrigal, ‘Peregrino 2024’ (91.10), also from Gordonzello, and “Canalla Rosé 2024” (90.80), from the personal project Vitis Velado.

The other two gold medals in the general category went to “Babia 2022” (91.40), from the Castrotierra de Valmadrigal winery, and “Don Suero Crianza 2020” (90.10), from Vinos de León-Vile (Valdevimbre), both in the category of red wines aged for more than six months and less than fourteen. The fifteen medals won by wines from the León Designation of Origin were rounded off by six gold medals awarded in the En Femenino category, which is judged by a tasting committee that is always strictly gender-balanced. This time, they went to the white “Pincerna” (95.50), the rosés “Gurdos” (95.40), “Peregrino” (92.00) and “Castillo de Valmadrigal” (90.80), and the aged reds “Babia” and “Don Suero Crianza”.

However, another particularly generous harvest had recently arrived from the equally prestigious International Wine & Spirits Competition, with thirteen medals, seven gold and six silver, for Vinos de León-Vile and the Melgarajo winegrowers’ association. The gold medals went to the white “Vile La Finca”, an Albarín from 2019, and the Prieto Picudo reds “Don Suero Crianza 2020”, “Don Suero Reserva 2018” and “Vile La Finca 2017”, from the Valdevimbre winery. And also for “Melgus Gran Reserva 2014”, “Melgus Reserva 2014” and “Valdeleña Autor 2015”, from the operator who has his vineyard in Melgar de Abajo (Valladolid). The six silver medals from the IWSC went to the whites “Valjunco Albarín 2023” and “Valdeleña Semidulce 2024”, as well as the rosé “Valjunco 2024” and the reds “Don Suero Roble 2023”, “Melgus Crianza 2015” and “Valdeleña Roble 2015”, all from Prieto Picudo.

The eight awards won at the Decanter World Awards, the world’s most important and influential competition, are also particularly noteworthy. Two wines certified by the DO León won silver medals in the exclusive red and white wine section of the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles for the “100 Cepas Crianza” from the 2019 vintage (Bodega Cien Cepas-Corbillos de los Oteros) and the white “Lágrima de Vitalis 2024” (Vitalis-Villamañán). Finally, the rosé “Gurdos 2024” (Gordonzello-Gordoncillo) won another gold medal at the National Competition for Wines from Small Designations of Origin.

At the end of the season, wines certified by the León Designation of Origin had accumulated eighty medals (five grand golds, forty-six golds, twenty-four silvers and five bronzes) in major international wine competitions, once again confirming the excellent organoleptic qualities and extraordinary oenological potential of the native varieties of reference, Albarín in the case of whites and Prieto Picudo for rosés and reds.