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Month: August 2026

Wine of the Week

Textured from Estrela

Published 28. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

At the foot of the Serra da Estrela, Portugal’s highest mountain range, lies one of the coolest parts of the Dão. Here, vineyards at around 500 metres above sea level grow on the region’s characteristic granitic soils. Altitude and considerable differences between day and night temperatures help preserve acidity and give the wines a freshness and tension that distinguish this mountainous corner of central Portugal.

Textura Wines is a family project founded in 2018 by Brazilian-born Marcelo Villela de Araújo and his wife, Patricia Berardi. Based in São Paio, near Gouveia, on the slopes of the Serra da Estrela, they work organically and focus on terroir-driven wines from different vineyards and sites in the Dão. The project combines Araújo and Berardi’s vision with the winemaking of Mariana Salvador and consultant Luís Seabra.

Textura da Estrela 2023 is a white blend of 65% encruzado, 20% bical and 15% cerceal, sourced entirely from vineyards in the Serra da Estrela. The wine is spontaneously fermented in oak and aged for 11 months in used French foudres and barriques. The intention is not to make an oaky wine, but to use the wood to build texture while allowing the fruit, acidity and granitic character of the vineyards to remain at the centre of the wine.

Textura da Estrela 2023 (Textura Wines)

Medium-deep greenish yellow. The nose opens with ripe lemon, yellow apple and peach, followed by white flowers, dried herbs, hazelnut and a discreet smoky note. There is considerable texture on the palate – broad and slightly creamy, yet held together by fresh acidity. Ripe citrus and yellow stone fruit are joined by herbs, nuts and a distinctly savoury, saline mineral character. Dry, structured and persistent, with a long, slightly spicy finish. A substantial yet fresh mountain white from Dão.

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Wine of the Week

Now Corpinnat

Published 21. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This was the first wine I shared with the woman who is now my wife. That alone gives Juvé & Camps Reserva de la Familia a rather special place in my wine memory. I also shared a bottle as the 1990s gave way to the new millennium. But the wine has a story that extends well beyond my own memories – and it has just entered a fascinating new chapter.

In April this year, Juvé & Camps announced that they were leaving DO Cava to join Corpinnat, becoming the 22nd member of the collective. It is a significant move: one of the historic names of Cava has chosen a body whose rules demand organic grapes, hand harvesting, vinification on the estate and extended bottle ageing, with a strong emphasis on the traditional varieties and viticultural identity of Penedès.

Reserva de la Familia itself has a particularly charming origin. It was originally made for the family’s own table – quite literally the family’s reserve – before being released commercially for the first time in 1976. It subsequently became the house’s emblematic sparkling wine.

The 2021 is a traditional Penedès blend of 50% xarel·lo, 35% macabeu and 15% parellada, from certified organic vineyards. Only the free-run juice is used. After a temperature-controlled first fermentation in stainless steel, the blend undergoes its second fermentation in bottle and spends a minimum of 36 months ageing there, thus a gran reserva. It is finished as brut nature, with no dosage.

Reserva de la Familia 2021 (Juvé & Camps)

Bright, clear golden yellow, with a persistent stream of very fine bubbles. The nose begins with crisp apple and white flowers, before opening towards fennel, dried Mediterranean herbs, toasted almonds and warm bread. With air there is a subtle creamy, lees-derived character, but the fruit remains fresh. The palate is dry and precise, with fine, beautifully integrated mousse and enough weight to give the wine presence without sacrificing tension. Apple, citrus peel, almond and lightly toasted bread lead into a savoury, gently saline finish. Elegant rather than showy, and impressively complete – a classic Penedès sparkling wine at a fascinating moment in its history.

Price: Low

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Wine of the Week

Beautiful brisat

Published 14. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Terra Alta, in the far south-west of Catalunya, is a landscape shaped by limestone, dry Mediterranean conditions and, crucially, wind. The cerç, blowing down from the interior, and the warmer garbí from the Mediterranean help keep the vineyards ventilated. This is one of Catalunya’s great territories for garnatxa blanca, a variety that has long been central to the region’s identity.

Celler Frisach is based in Corbera d’Ebre, where brothers Joan and Francesc Ferré established the winery in 2009, building on more than two centuries of farming in the family. Their approach combines organic viticulture with a determination to work with the traditional grapes and wine styles of Terra Alta.

Vernatxa 2023 is 100% garnatxa blanca – vernatxa being the traditional local name – from the Finca Quart vineyard. This has stony, calcareous soils, and the grapes are organically grown. This is a brisat, reviving the old Catalan tradition of fermenting white grapes together with their skins. After careful hand selection, the grapes ferment on their skins before the wine is matured in concrete and old 500-litre barrels. It is bottled without filtration, clarification or stabilisation.

Vernatxa 2023 (Celler Frisach)

In the glass, deep golden yellow with a slight amber hue. The nose is expressive but not overtly fruity: ripe pear and quince are joined by citrus peel, fennel, dried Mediterranean herbs and a subtle floral character. The palate has impressive texture and grip, with ripe yellow fruit, quince and aniseed balanced by vibrant acidity. There is a distinctly savoury, slightly saline and stony quality underneath the fruit, while the skin contact contributes gentle phenolic bite. Dry, structured and persistent, with a long mineral and herbal finish.

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Wine of the Week

Rosé with real drive

Published 7. August 2026 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Penedès may be best known for sparkling wine, but away from the larger cava houses there is another side to the region: old vineyards, local varieties and a growing generation of growers looking back to traditional Catalan farming and winemaking.

Celler La Salada is the personal project of Toni Carbó and Anna Serra, based around the family vineyards near El Pla del Penedès. Toni, also one of the founders of Mas Candí, started La Salada in 2012, working with vineyards that have been in his family for generations and have never been subjected to intensive chemical farming. Today the approach is organic and biodynamic, with minimal intervention in the cellar and no additions, including sulphur.

Roig Boig – roughly “crazy red” in Catalan – is certainly an unconventional rosé. The 2021 is a field blend bringing together red and white Catalan varieties, including sumoll, roigenc, mandó, cannonau, mònica, torbat, parellada and xarel·lo. The grapes are harvested by hand and the wine is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts. It is bottled unfined and unfiltered, without added sulphur – very much in keeping with La Salada’s philosophy of allowing vineyard and fruit to speak with as little cellar manipulation as possible.

Roig Boig 2021 (Celler La Salada)

In the glass it is a striking, slightly hazy pale pink with touches of salmon and orange. The nose is immediately lively: wild strawberry, cranberry and redcurrant, followed by citrus peel, dried Mediterranean herbs, wild flowers and a faintly earthy, stony note. On the palate it is light and wonderfully energetic, with tart red berries, pink grapefruit and a distinctly mineral edge. Bright acidity gives it real drive, while a gentle phenolic grip adds texture. Bone-dry, fresh and slightly wild, with a savoury, herbal finish that makes the next sip almost inevitable.

Price: Medium

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