Category: Wine of the Week

Heights of Ávila

Published 28. March 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Aurelio García and Micaela Rubio, both chemists and oenologists from the province of Cuenca, have expanded their winemaking efforts to include the high-altitude vineyards of the Sierra de Gredos in Ávila, particularly around the village of Navatalgordo. Here, the vineyards are situated at elevations between 1100 and 1300 meters, with granitic soils that vary in decomposition, texture, and orientation. The region’s continental mountain climate, marked by long, snowy winters and cool summers that extend into autumn, offers ideal conditions for cultivating old vines. Many of the vineyards in this area were abandoned following the Spanish Civil War and remained untouched for decades, providing Aurelio and Micaela with the opportunity to work with 80-year-old garnacha tinta vines. Their focus in Gredos is to explore the distinctive characteristics of each site, particularly how soil type and exposure influence the flavor and texture of the wines.

+Altitud is a village wine from Ávila, sourced from 40 plots located between 1100 and 1300 meters, making them some of the highest vineyards on the Iberian Peninsula. The wine is made from 98% garnacha tinta, with 2% white table grapes blended in. Each parcel is vinified separately based on soil type, and the wine is aged for 14 to 15 months in a mix of 60% concrete, 20% silica/clay, and 20% used 500-litre barrels.

+Altitud 2021 (A. García & M. Rubio)

Delicate, almost ethereal wine. Light in both colour and body. Aromas of red berries (raspberry, wild strawberry), complemented by subtle floral notes. It is aromatic, complex, and light on its feet, with a granite-derived texture and a distinctive mineral finish.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

A glimpse into the greatness

Published 21. March 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I am not among the ranks of those who follow Bourgogne closely. One reason is that I do my best to keep up with what happens other places, such as the Iberian Peninsula. I could also mention the prices. But then, Bourgogne Côte-d’Or has emerged as an exciting category for wine lovers seeking high-quality wines at more accessible prices than the prestigious appellations. What is more, the director of my local wine shop is a highly regarded expert on Bourgogne. So at a major release of Burgundies, from DRC and downwards, he said that this was a must try.

I have learned that Bouzereau is based in Meursault, where he makes elegant white wines from that appellation. The estate is now run by Michel’s son, Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau. He follows organic practices in the vineyard and employs a gentle winemaking approach to preserve the finesse of the fruit. Bouzereau employs a restrained use of new oak to preserve the wine’s elegance.

The grapes for this wine come from selected plots in the Côte de Beaune. The 2022 vintage was warm, yet retained enough freshness to ensure balance in the wines. The grapes are hand-harvested, partly destemmed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top vats. This cuvée saw one year in barrel, 15% new.

Bourgogne Côte-d’Or Pinot Noir 2022 (Michel Bouzereau)

Bright ruby with hints of violet. Aroma of red berries (cherry, raspberry), floral notes and subtle spice. Fresh and delicate in the mouth, with vibrant red fruit, balanced acidity, fine-grained tannins, with a gentle earthiness. A refined, terroir-driven pinot noir with purity of fruit and silky tannins. Beautiful already, but will evolve over the next few years.

Price: Medium

Food: Light meat (veal), roasted duck breast, or a classic wild mushroom risotto

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Wine of the Week

Álvar’s Aciano, a new approach for Toro

Published 14. March 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

In Toro Álvar de Dios Hernández is taking a new approach, while also respecting the region’s heritage. His journey began in 2008 when he took over a century-old vineyard from his grandfather, situated in El Pego, Zamora. This vineyard, with its sandy soils, survived the phylloxera plague, allowing the ungrafted vines planted in 1919 to thrive. In honor of his grandfather, affectionately known as Aciano, Álvar crafted a wine that encapsulates both familial legacy and the distinct terroir of the place.

Aciano 2018 is a fruit of Álvar’s commitment to sustainable viticulture and minimal intervention winemaking. Produced from tinta de toro (tempranillo) grapes, the wine undergoes natural yeast fermentation, with 60% whole clusters included. It is then aged for 12 months in neutral French oak barrels ranging from 300 to 600 liters. The result is a wine that stands out in the Toro appellation for its elegance and finesse, diverging from the region’s typically robust style. I hope this could be the future.

Aciano 2018 (Álvar de Dios)

Dark cherry red. Aromatic herbs, wild berries, and floral notes, exuding freshness and restrained ripeness. On the palate, the wine offers a chalky minerality, a fresh acidity and grainy, sandy tannins that reflect the vineyard’s soil. Good concentration and decent length.

Price: Medium

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Articles and Wine of the Week

Infantado’s celebration release

Published 28. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Simplesmente Vinho offered this year for the first time three special tastings. One of them was dedicated to Quinta do Infantado and the release of a limited edition 50 year old tawny. The festival’s own João Roseira and his son Álvaro, now responsible winemaker, guided us through around ten wines and samples, before they presented the new tawny.

The release marks 50 years since the Portuguese Revolution, which ended the dictatorship and ushered in democracy. This special edition not only commemorates that historic moment but also pays tribute to João’s father, Luís Roseira, who was instrumental in Quinta do Infantado’s pioneering shift to estate-bottling.

The Roseira family has owned and managed Quinta do Infantado for over a century. In 1979, Luís Roseira, born on February 23, 1924, together with his brother António, led the estate’s groundbreaking decision to bottle its own wines—breaking with the tradition of selling bulk Port to the large houses in Vila Nova de Gaia. This made Quinta do Infantado the first independent producer to bottle its own Ports in the Douro region.

50 Year Old Tawny Luís Roseira (Quinta do Infantado)

Deep mahogany with greenish hue towards the rim.
Intense and complex bouquet with layers of dried fruits (figs, dates, and raisins), with caramelized nuts, toffee and nutmeg, along with hints of orange peel and coffee. Concentrated on the palate, with a rich texture balanced by vibrant acidity, with flavours that mirror the aromas, alongside a subtle minerality. The finish is extremely long, with a dry, nutty aftertaste and delicate bitter notes like dark chocolate and espresso.
This 50-year-old Tawny Port from Quinta do Infantado is a masterpiece. It reminds me of an exceptional old PX sherry, but it’s less sweet. It has multiple possibilities for pairing with food. But it is also a wine for meditation.

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Wine of the Week

Lebanese Nat

Published 21. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This wine was served in a tasting of Lebanese wines in my local wine club this week. It was the only sparkling wine, or pét nat, and stood out in more than one way.

The producer is Mersel Wine, named after the region Maksar Mersel, which is the highest viticultural region in Lebanon. The grapes for this wine however are grown in Deir El Ahmar, Bekaa Valley at “only” 1.200 meters altitude.

Mersel’s wines are made naturally, with very little or no sulfites. They are unfiltered and unfined and fruits of organic farming methods.

Eddie Chami, the winemaker at Mersel Wine, was born and raised in Australia. He doesn’t speak French and didn’t want Mersel to be associated with the French wine making influence in Lebanon. He has a passion for wines made by local Lebanese indigenous grape varieties. This said, the red Leb Nat is made from cinsault. After almost 200 years in the country (first planted by jesuits in the mid 19th century) the grape has long been acclimatised to Lebanese conditions though. By the way, Mersel was the first winery in the country to launch a pét nat.

The grapes are pressed, then the juice and pulp spend 5 days together before fermentation starts. The wine then ferments for about 20 days at 14°C, is then bottled and completes fermentation in the bottle, where it rests on lees for 1 year.

Leb Nat 2022 (Mersel Wine)

Cherry red with small bubbles. Smells of cherry and raspberry, with herbs. Fresh in the mouth with energetic acidity, lightly bubbly, with a slight touch of tannins (the same structure or dryness as the still red cinsaults in the tasting), and finishes dry. Quite peculiar; in a way it reminded me of a clarete (a mix of red and white grapes), on the other hand I also found a surprising tannic dryness.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

New saca of palma Caberrubia

Published 14. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Luis Pérez is one of the leading producers in the new wave of Jerez. I reviewed a pasto wine in September last year. Here you can learn what it is, if you don’t already know, and also get an introduction to the producer.

Caberrubia is a non vintage wine from the El Corregidor estate in the Carrascal pago. It’s named a palma, a classification for especially fine wines in the fino style.

The grapes are palomino fino trained in gobelet, from a 40 years old vineyard. The producer’s website tells that the harvesters go through the vineyard from the beginning of August to the end of September selecting bunches for different types of wines. The first pickings are for the greenest bunches on the plant. From these they make a wine with low alcohol and high acidity, that is used to correct the rest of the wines. The third of five pickings is the base for the palmas such as Caberrubia.

The vinification is typical: Light pressing and fermentation in the barrel, packing in December and approximately three and a half years of biological ageing.

There have been various sacas (bottlings) of the wine. Now we have come to the seventh. With Saca VII they have expanded the selection to 17 botas (typical sherry casks), mostly 2017, 2018 and 2019, and small proportions of previous vintages. With this assemblage they seek a style that is representative for the vineyard, that is “an inland character, roundness and concentration, without losing the elegance and finesse that defines all the previous sacas”. According to the new legislation a wine can be called sherry even if it’s not fortified, only if it has reached 15º of alcohol. This saca has not reached that level, so it’s not released as a fino within the D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, but as a white wine.

Caberrubia Saca VII (Luis Pérez)

Deep golden. Complex aroma with fresh fruits like baked apples and peach, complemented by nuts, and a touch of flor and salt. Good volume in the mouth, concentrated and smooth, salty and long. It has more power than the previous saca, but it’s also very elegant.

Price: Medium-high

Food: Aperitif, various tapas incl. asparagus, cheese and nuts, also nice with rice and spicy dishes

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Wine of the Week

Beautiful Bierzo from Banzao

Published 7. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

To make the history short, Silvia Marrao from Madrid became interested in winemaking in Italy and fell in love with the vineyards of Bierzo after having spent some time in Rías Baixas. Her Banzao project began with the lease of a old 3 hectare vineyard in San Pedro de Olleros in 2017, located at 750 meters of elevation. We are in the in the Ancares valley, in El Bierzo. A banzao is a small, temporary dam that raises river or stream levels to channel water for irrigation. Made of wood and stone, it washes away with autumn rains, only to be rebuilt yearly -as Silvia puts it, mirroring the natural cycle, like the vine’s renewal through winter pruning.

Silvia has currently around four hectares of her own vineyards, thanks to private owners in San Pedro de Olleros who came to offer them to her. Currently is cultivated on a total of 18 plots in 8 different parajes in the Villa de San Pedro de Olleros. These have different orientation, altitude and type of soil. Being in the Ancares Leoneses Biosphere Reserve, she wants to work organic, integrating the plant into the biodiversity of the area and intervening as little as possible.

Eras la Ermita is one of Silvia’s 5 paraje wines. It’s from a vineyard of mainly mencía planted in the 1940s and 50s and been in recovery since 2017. The soil is slate with clay and quartzite. The wine was fermented with native yeasts in barrels and stainless steel tanks, 50% with stems and the rest gently destemmed without crushing. It was aged for 9 months in 500 and 225 liter barrels.

It is a fairly large field at the northern edge of San Pedro, gently sloping toward the city. Over time, the wind has eroded its loose soil, leaving a thin topsoil. Quarry stone and weathered slate define both the terrain and the character of the wine.

Eras la Ermita 2021 (Bodegas Banzao)

Deep clear red. Aromas of dark forest berries and raspberries, aromatic herbs, with an earthy note. The palate follows up with dark and red fruits, together with a stony minerality, and it has a good concentration and a lovely integrated acidity. It’s in a way delicate and juicy, but it also has a firm tannins that will help it through a few more years. It’s a wine with real nerve and energy.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

From Europe’s highest vineyard

Published 31. January 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Three months ago I had contact with José Andrés Prieto that ended with an agreement to visit in Inazares, Murcia, when I was going on holiday. Then suddenly and unexpectedly he died, on the 30th of November. (Here is an article in Spanish from local paper La Verdad.) I didn’t contact the family then, but I will. All I did was to buy his wine again in the excellent delicatessen shop Sabor y Tradición, just down the road from our flat in Murcia city.

This project was started by two brothers-in-law and their wives in 2005. At the time they didn’t have any knowledge about farming or winegrowing, but got advice from Vinitech Bordeaux. After seven years oenologist María José Fernández Llamas joined the project. They follow a philosophy of minimal intervention and sustainability.

A few years ago I reported from Pedro Olivares’ vineyards nearby, in Inazares, a hamlet of Moratalla municipality. (Read about it here.) This project is now abandoned. This means that it’s little doubt that the highest (at least commercial) vineyards in Europe is now Alto de Inazares’ vineyard at 1.373 meters.

The grapes are viognier, chardonnay, gewürztraminer, sauvignon blanc and riesling, planted in 2011 and cultivated organically on trellises, with a simple cordon royat. The grapes are hand-harvested and destemmed. After a light pressing skin maceration is carried out for 6 hours. The clarification is done by a natural settling of the sediments. The wine is aged on lees in steel for 6 months.

Blanco de Blancas 2021 (Alto de Inazares)

Straw yellow. Plenty of aromatics, with citrus (lemon), floral and herbal notes, and a slight tropical hint (melon). Fresh in the mouth, concentrated, mineral, with a vivid acidity and a long aftertaste. Full of energy.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Rich white Jumilla

Published 24. January 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This wine was enjoyed with a savoury fish dish at the restaurant Pura Cepa in Murcia city.

It’s made by the Pacheco family winery, or: Bodegas Viña Elena, in Jumilla. Elena Pacheco is third generation, the winery being founded by her grandfather Francisco in 1948, who then started making wine with modest equipment. 4th generation is today working in the winery, and in oenology Elena has great help from Pilar Abellán, who has been with the winery for more than 20 years. The cultivation is always organic.

The vineyard for this wine is located in the Estrecho de Marín valley, south of the town of Jumilla. They are young, planted in 2018 in bush and dry land. The varieties are white Mediterranean, including garnacha blanca.

The wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks at a temperature of 16 ºC and aged in 500L French oak barrels for 7 months. Plate and amicrobial filtration.

Familia Pacheco Edición Especial 2022 (Viña Elena)

Light golden colour. Aroma of melon and baked citrus, with a layer of nuts and butter, and with notes of vanilla. Rich and structured in the mouth, tasty, well-integrated wood, with decent acidity and long and persistent finish.

Price: Medium

Food: Tasty fish dishes, grilled fish, light meat

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Wine of the Week

Nat pinotage

Published 17. January 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Last week I hosted a rather unlikely tasting, of wines from granite soils worldwide. There were some well-known wines. This one I would probably not have come across if it weren’t because I was searching for adequate wines from South Africa.

It’s made from pinotage, a cross between cinsault and pinot noir, that has become something of a national grape in South Africa. Usually made in a riper style, this one is lighter and fresher, somewhat reminiscent of its parentage. Alex Milner at Natte Valleij is otherwise known for his attraction to the cinsault variety.

The bush-vines were planted in 1997 in the Darling area, only 16km form the cold Atlantic ocean. The grapes were harvested by hand and sorted by hand in the cellar. Fermentation is spontaneous in large concrete open fermenters, with a gentle extraction only with punch-downs. The wine is then left undisturbed in 1500L concrete eggs and seasoned barrels for 9 months.

Nat Pinotage 2023 (Natte Valleij)

Dark cherry with a purple touch. Aroma of dark fruits (blackberry, morello), with some animal notes and a light touch of tarmac. Light to medium-bodied, firm but elegant tannins, and a fresh and balanced acidity.

Price: Low

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