Freddy R. Troya

9.0

Pago del Cielo Celeste Verdejo Sur Lies 2023 – Rueda DO, Castilla y León, Spain 🇪🇸

Overview
Made from 100% Verdejo, this wine undergoes sur lies aging, allowing extended contact with the lees to build texture and complexity while preserving the variety’s vibrant freshness. The result is a beautifully balanced Verdejo that overdelivers with remarkable depth and value.

Aromas & Flavors
Lime zest, grapefruit, green apple, white peach, fennel, fresh herbs, and subtle citrus blossom are complemented by delicate lees-derived notes of fresh bread and almond.

Mouthfeel
Bright and energetic with lively acidity wrapped around a creamy, silky texture. The sur lies aging adds weight and complexity without introducing buttery richness, creating a beautifully focused and refreshing finish.

Food Pairings
Grilled shrimp, oysters, ceviche, seafood paella, roasted vegetables, goat cheese, sushi, or herb-roasted chicken.

Verdict
An expressive and remarkably well-crafted Verdejo that combines freshness with texture in a way few wines at this price point achieve. Elegant, refreshing, and immensely satisfying.

Did You Know?
“Sur lies” means the wine remains in contact with its spent yeast cells after fermentation. Gentle stirring of the lees (bâtonnage) can further enhance creaminess and complexity while preserving freshness, a technique often associated with top white Burgundies but increasingly embraced by premium Verdejo producers.

🍷 Personal Pick
This wine genuinely surprised me. It delivers far more complexity than expected, with the creamy lees texture beautifully balancing its vibrant acidity. For anyone who thinks Verdejo is simply another crisp white, this bottle proves just how compelling, and underrated Rueda can be. — 4 days ago

Daniel Diaz

10

2026 Cruise Wine — 3 months ago

Rufus King

9.2

Crisp white Bordeaux served at friend’s hose in Kennebunk, ME (7 High) — 5 months ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.5

Really nice - lovely aged flavours from the sem. Acid is perfect and moorish — 5 months ago

Great Sage

9.7

Bitterness of grapefruit peel balances the fresh green apples and strawberry notes of the wine. Tasty and enjoyable! — 10 months ago

Coleman

8.9

Good for price, classic — a year ago

Juan Pablo Perez

9.0

QPR! Frambuesa y fresas. — 2 days ago

Angelo Casagrande

9.0

$12.99? Are you kidding? This is a good rose for twice that. Great acidity, a little tartness, strawberry. Cab and cab franc. — 2 months ago

Kristen Grimes

9.2

Tart red cherry, light body, surprising prominent peppery tannins. Meet the Maker tasting. — 2 months ago

Jennifer Lower

9.1

Very good. Would pick up a bottle (had at a bunko’s night). Paired well with a lemon meringue pie. Easy drink on its own. — 4 months ago

Benjamin Hickey

9.5

A bit closed in but really pretty. Lots of white flower and soft stone fruit. Not as much oak/lees influence as other vintages on tasting. — 5 months ago

Ashley Michelsen

9.1

I usually don’t like French reds but this drank like a Napa red. Very nice — 9 months ago

Joe L.

9.4

Purchased in Frederick wine store — a year ago

AEL

9.0

Strong savory, floral notes. Great structure - tannin really backs up the fruit and floral notes. Nice wine. At Smith & Wollensky with Nate and Mary. — 2 years ago

Charlie Frago

8.9

Enjoyable blend. Moderate fruit in both nose and palate on opening. Smoothed out with some time. Great value. Will get another — 2 months ago

Ming L

9.0

The fragrant nose shows green apple, lemon, pear, starfruit, and subtle fresh herbs. Medium body with round texture that balances the high acidity nicely. Touch of seashell on the refreshing finish.

A delightful Chenin Blanc. — 2 months ago

Annalise

9.0

Nice alternative to sauv blanc. Not as citrusy or acidic. Beautiful honey suckle smell — 3 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Sweet black fruits - plums. Only medium weight - restrained. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot. 2012 was a cooler more moderate growing season, more claret style says Sam Middleton. This is not one of the great Quintets IMO. At its best Quintets is one of the best Cabernet blends in Australia. It still reinforces the fact that the Yarra Valley is one of the better terroirs for Bordeaux blends in Australia. Not for long cellaring. This is first of 3 of the 2012 vintage I have in my cellar. — 4 months ago

J

9.0

Vine & Brew “go-to table wine!” — 5 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.7

This wine is in a perfect place. 2008 is not as regarded as 2007, but this 2008 made by Charles Hendricks is saying differently & absolutely one of his very best. I would say, James & Coleen made a mistake in letting him get away.

It is sort of a Mother Mary of God wine. Not to be religious, just the phrase fits.

Our eyes & ears perk up when we hear Napa names like; Harlan, Scarecrow, Hundred Acre, Bond & Colgin. I’d like to put this in blind and watch the shock & awe in everyone eyes when the wines were revealed.

The palate entry is perfect in every way. It is rich, lush, extremely balanced with well rounded, velvety M+ tannins. The core is dark currants, blackberries, black raspberries, both plums, black cherries, baked strawberries framed in raspberry edges. Some of the most amazing, dark spices with palate heat, melted, dark chocolate to pudding, black licorice to anise, mocha, malt balls, caramel, mid baking spices; clove, nutmeg, cinnamon stick, vanillin, fresh & used tobacco, leathery, graphite, crushed rocks & limestone, sage brush, slightly, candied, dark & withering flowers set in understated violet’s & lavender, warm, summer, rainfall acidity, balance for days, excellent structure/tension with elegance and smart polish that lasts minutes and settles on beautiful spices.

This wine is at its precipice and will hold a few more years with good drinking for 8-10 years. — 10 months ago