juan garcía Archives

When in Arribes

Published 30. June 2023 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I am in Fermoselle, a lovely village in Zamora province, Castilla y León. This is the heartland of Arribes del Duero, an exciting wine district bordering Portugal. One of the leading small, terroir-focused wineries is El Hato y el Garabato, José Manuel Beneitez López and his wife Liliana Fernández Pérez. The restaurant of my hotel, Posada Doña Urraca, has plenty of good local wines, and my choice is their Sin Blanca.

José and Liliana work with very old vineyards, between 80 and 120 years old, planted in bush style. These are all managed organically, out of conviction and because the structure of the vines, their age and the weather will protect them. In total they work 8 hectares divided into more than 20 plots.

Arribes is a small territory with only 272 hectares. Still the soils are diverse. El Hato y el Garabato take advantage of this as they have vineyards in clayey soils near the river, granite on the plains and schist and slate in the canyon – with altitudes ranging from 300 to almost 800 meters.

Sin Blanca (meaning: broke) is made from the oldest vines in which all the varieties in the vineyard are included. Juan garcía usually counts for 80% accompanied by bruñal (alfrocheiro in Portuguese), bastardillo (also known as bastardo, merenzao and trousseau) and rufete. It spent 9 months in French oak. Like all their wines it’s not filtered nor clarified, and the sulfuring is very low.

Sin Blanca 2017 (El Hato y el Garabato)

Dark cherry red. Red and dark fruits (cherry, blackberry), plum, herbs, stony minerals. Good volume, with an earthy touch and fruit all the way.

Price: Medium

Envínate at Malauva, Vigo

Published 22. March 2019 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

Vigo is the main city of Galicia’s southern part. It might be that I don’t know it well enough, but I think that even if it may be the natural centre for those who live and work there, so far that it lacks that “something extra” to make it a major tourist spot. This is if you’re not taking into account that Galicia’s (at the moment) best natural wine bar is there. Malauva is a place you can go to savour delicious organic, biodynamic, natural wines, and the waiters know what wines they are serving, just half a block from my hotel by the harbour. (I visited in a break from Porto’s Simplesmente fair, over the border.) It was Josiño, educated sommelier, and his wife Marina who started the bar, and I hope that sufficiently enough people will appreciate it, so that many like me (natural wine geeks, but not Celta football fans) have a reason to come back.

On a corner just off the harbour

I ordered “Burrata y tomates” and “Canelón de choco”, and as it was not packed with guests this Monday I had the chance to discuss with Josiño which wines to be served next.

I chose to go Galician that night. After a light start, the appley/citrussy Eido da Salgos 2016 (Cazapitas) from O Rosal, Rías Baixas, came the more herbal Memoría de Ventura lías finas 2016 (Pinguela), a Valdeorras godello. On to the reds, Volátil from the
Bibei subregion of Ribeira Sacra were bottled by the Fefiñans of Cambados. Maybe the least interesting wine, a bit warm and oaky, but also with nice dark fruits and balsamic notes. With Silice 2017 of Sober (Amandi subzone of Ribeira Sacra) it started to take off. A cherry red, wild fruits scented, atlantic acidity, elegant wine.

Josiño, ‘taberneiro’ for Malauva wine bar

Our main wine this time is from the team Envínate, that makes wines in several Spanish regions. The four friends started as consultants after oenology studies in Alicante in 2005, but it soon evolved into a wine producing project. Their aim is to explore distinctive parcels and make pure, authentic wines that express the terroir of each parcel. No chemicals are used in the vineyards, only natural yeast, and sulfur is used only prior to bottling and if they think they need it.

Lousas is Galician for the type of slate soil that predominates in the Amandi sub-zone of Ribeira Sacra. Aldea means village. There is 90-95% mencía with other grapes (such as brancellao, merenzao, mouratón [juan garcía], bastardo and garnacha tintorera), in a field blend.

For this wine 40% whole clusters were included, the must was raised in old barrels for 11 months with no racking and no SO2 added until bottling.

Lousas Viña de Aldea 2016 (Envínate)
Cherry red. Red fruits and flowers on top, white pepper and herbs. It has a mineral edge and a, long, cool acidity.

It’s fresh, elegant and in my opinion more than a typical “village wine”. It bears the subtitle Vino Atlántico, which is very appropriate, as the influence from the ocean is evident.

Price: Medium

La Setera’s Juan García

Published 19. May 2018 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

No, Juan García is not a footballer in the Spanish second division. It’s a local hero grape variety with some potential for stardom on a national level.

The grape is most likely to be found in western Castilla, towards the border with Portugal, and it’s maybe at its best in Arribes del Duero. There are not many varietals made though. It was traditionally used to strengthen wines from garnacha and other soft-skinned grapes. Arribes is one of the oldest wine growing regions in Spain, with roots back to the Phoenicians. But it wasn’t untill the 1990’s that they started to create a DO region, that today covers only 600 hectares of vineyard.

The bodega is located in Fornillos de Fermoselle, between Salamanca and Zamora. From here you can look over the border to the Portuguese side of the Duero/Douro river. La Setera means she who handles muschrooms (after seta = mushroom). But the winery is equally famous for making artisanal cheese from the local goat and cow’s milk. They have also started to make beer. Patxi and his wife Sarah have six hectares of own vineyards in Fermoselle and the neighbouring Pinilla. It’s almost exclusively old vines, with Spanish and Portuguese grape varieties such as tempranillo, touriga nacional, bruñal, rufete, alongside red verdeja (sic!). They also do some experiments with amphora, resulting in a juan garcía-mencía-bruñal-bastardo-rufete wine called Tinaja Crianza, aged first in clay, then oak.

The tinto joven is made as a joven in steel tanks, to accentuate the fruitiness, and it’s 100% juan garcía. This is really small-scale with only 2.000 bottles made of the young entry-level wine.

Francisco José “Patxi” Martínez in his small artisanal bodega

Juan García Tinto Joven 2016 (La Setera)

Dark cherry red with violet rim. Wild berries, elderberry, pepper, stony minerals. It’s very fresh, textural, with evident tannins, carbonic traces and a light bitterness in the finish. You could maybe call it a bit rustic, but I love it.

Price: Medium

Food: A variety of meat, such as game, salads and cheeses

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When in Arribes

Envínate at Malauva, Vigo

La Setera’s Juan García