We have seen several natural wines now that really can age. (Here is a good one from Granada, and here an even older wine from Dão, Portugal.)
Let me tell you about one from Ribera del Duero, Castilla y León (Spain). Goyo García Viadero, the man behind it, comes from a respected family in wine. I got in touch with him through Bodegas Valduero of Gumiel del Mercado, where his sister Yolanda is winemaker.
Goyo started to produce his own naturally made wines in 2003. He has three small plots near Roa, with different soil types and at various altitudes. And they are the “toda la vida” kind of vineyards, where white varieties grow together with reds. The idea is to express the characteristics of the vineyard, rather than each grape variety.
(Credit: G. García)
All wines are de-stemmed, fermented exclusively with wild yeast, and nothing is added during elevage, neither any SO2. The wines are raised in old French barrels in a very old underground cellar in Gumiel.
The Viñas de Arcilla is Goyo’s only mono-varietal cuvée, 100% tinto fino (tempranillo). It comes from a very old vineyard, clay-dominated (as the name suggests) with some lime-stone, at more than 800 meters altitude. It’s produced with a similar vinification and elevage as outlined above.
Finca Viñas de Arcilla 2010(Goyo García Viadero/ Explotaciones Valduero)
Deep cherry red, signs of development. Cherry, mature fruits, a bit earthy and peaty. Still some fine-grained tannins, lovely acidity and quite persistent. Not heavy at all, and with none of the oakiness often associated with this wine region.
At a younger stage it is perhaps the most powerful of his wines, with a solid structure, but it’s always juicy and surprisingly open too. Now I would say it’s near its peak.
Price: Medium
Food: The suckling pigs or lambs of the region, any kind of roasts and red meat, and don’t forget the wild mushrooms
Lately I have been traveling a lot in northern Spain, and many times I have been visiting, or simply crossing Ribera del Duero. I have also been passing the city and province of Soria, without stopping. Now this has come to an end: Just like I did some ten years ago it was time to explore this often-forgotten but interesting high-altitude part of the DO Ribera del Duero.
There is Bodegas Gormaz, the former cooperative of San Estéban de Gormaz, the area’s biggest village. They are the biggest company, owner of many old pre-phylloxera vines, controls over 1300 acres of vines and makes sound and solid wines. There is of course Bertrand Sourdais, formerly with Atauta, and his new project Antídote.
There is Tierras de Guijarral, a private project that makes ambitious wines under the Rudeles label in Peñalba de San Esteban, on the way to Soria capital. Sergio Rupérez, one of the four owners, is the Ru- of Rudeles. He is responsible winemaker. Today there is no fertilizing, and he also tells that he will convert to only organic cultivation and only autoctonous yeasts in a not too distant future.
And there are others too. Our third article in this series will highlight a very promising producer.
Jaime Suárez at Atauta
However, few will deny that Dominio de Atauta is the leading producer at the moment. I will dedicate the next article to them, so I will not give too much about the background here.
When I made a stop (parada in Spanish) to fill up the tank and found the Parada de Atauta in the shelves of the gas station, then I understood that there must be a certain culture here. This is the entry-level wine from the producer’s classical line.
It’s a serious wine from min. 80 year old tempranillo vines, from in and around the Atauta valley. We are almost a thousand meters above sea level, and the soil is sandy and stony, typical of the area. The wine stayed a year in French oak.
Parada de Atauta 2014 (Dominio de Atauta)
Dark purple colour. Smell of dark and red berries (blueberry, blackberry), violets, pepper and some coffee. The palate is also dominated by berries, with a cool freshness, velvety tannins, and a stony minerality.
Price: Low
Food: Red and light meat, rice dishes, pasta, roast vegetables…
We are near the tiny village of El Pego near the southern border of Toro, Castilla y León. Aciano is a 3 hectare vineyard that Alvar de Dios Hernández inherited from his grandfather. The altitude is more than 700 meters, the soils here are sandy, quite special for this area. And for this reason the 100 years old ungrafted vines have survived the phylloxera plague. Aciano was his grandfather’s nickname, so the wine is baptized in his honour. The vineyard practise is organic and biodynamic.For this wine the grapes were hand harvested. 60% whole clusters, 3-4 day pre-fermentation maceration, natural yeast fermentation in big vat, daily soft pigeage, 20 day maceration are other keywords. The ageing was then done for 12-14 months in big, old French barrels, mostly neutral.
Alvar was born in El Pego, but he came in contact with Fernando García and Dani Landi of Sierra de Gredos, and was at a time cellar master for Fernando at Bodegas Marañones. (See various write-ups about the two around this blog; here is one.) Their influence can maybe explain Alvar’s search for coolness in his wines, and for Toro this must be a much needed fresh air.
Aciano 2016(Alvar de Dios Hernández)
Dark cherry red. Perfumed aroma; flowers, dark and red fruits (blackberry, cherry), a slight touch of coffee. It’s tasty and quite solid, yes, but it’s not coarse-heavy-rough like toro can be, and the acidity is good, natural. The most elegant red from this appellation I have tasted for years.
Price: Medium
Food: Roast suckling pig (traditional Castilian dish), other light meats, game, Villalón and other fresh and hard cheeses
I am attending the first edition of Duero International Wine Fest in Burgos, and I have just participated in a comparative tasting of ‘Ultreias’ from different soils. What could then be more natural than to highlight something from that tasting as wine of the week?
Raúl Pérez makes wine in several regions, mostly the Spanish northwest. It’s also here, in Bierzo’s Valtuille de Abajo, that the family has made its living for generations.
In the Ultreia series there are a couple of entry-level “village” wines from various sites, and then a collection of single-vineyard wines from vineyards with different soils such as limestone, basalt, slate and sand. Most these are within the limits of Valtuille de Abajo.
The Rapolao was one of the more constrained and elegant wines from the tasting. It is made from very old vines, planted in the late nineteenth century and has a field blend of mostly mencía, but with a small percentage of bastardo, garnacha tintorera and the white doña blanca. Some of grapes have in fact a little botrytis. The soils are rich in iron, with a high organic content. The must was fermented in open chestnut stems and elevated in smaller French casks.
Ultreia Rapolao 2016(Raúl Pérez)
Young colour, dark violet hue. Both fruity and somewhat earthy aromatics; red berries and forest fruits (blackberry, cherry, plums), and a trace of coffee. Medium weight, fine-grained tannins, great transparency, with a stony minerality, and a natural acidity, and a long aftertaste.
Price: Medium
Food: Cured meats, light meat, hard cheeses, a variety of salads…
Simplesmente… Vinho is the kind of wine fairs that I love, where you meet only individual producers off the beaten wine track. I have already published a short report from the fair itself, I presented a wine from Dão in my weekly column, one from Algarve, then one from the Açores, and finally one from Douro. I visited Rodrigo Filipe’s Humus in the Lisboa region before the fair, and lastly I also prepare an article from my visits in Dão. Here are just a few of the rest.
Minho
Quinta da Palmirinha
Fernando Paiva was one of the pioneers of biodynamic farming in Portugal, in the unlikely region of Vinho Verde, a humid region with a strong Atlantic influence. When looking closer at the map he is based in Lixa, near Amarante in the southern part, not far from Douro. His wines are wonderfully balanced, flowery, and with the acidity in percfect harmony with the rest. The main white grape is loureiro. The Quinta da Palmirinha Loureiro 2016 was oh so light, fresh and citric, with balsamic (pine) notes, and with a fresh natural acidity perfectly well integrated. The red Palmirinha 2016 (vinhão-espadeiro-azal tinto), no sulphur added, was dark, with ink, plums, and aciditywise it was in line with the whites (high but hidden). Paiva is also involved in the Mica project, where four producers are joining forces, making greatly enjoyable wines at a lower price. I liked the 2017, an azal-treixadura-avesso tropic/mellow blend at 17 g/L residual sugar.
Fernando Paiva
Aphros
Vasco Croft went biodynamic since the beginning, at his farm near Ponte de Lima, where he has 18 hectares, uses own sheep compost. All wines are made using native yeast.
Vasco Croft (right) talking to Brazilian reporter Didu Rosso
Aphros Loureiro 2016 is light, with lemon, flowers, slender, citric, and with a good, steely acidity. Daphne 2016 comes from a different plot, granitic, more rocky (while the others are sandy). It had 12 hours skin-contact, was then fermented in concrete eggs of 1600 liters and stayed there untill bottling. This wine was full, a bit darker, with aroma dominated by apple. Phaunus Loureiro 2016 stayed 6-8 weeks in amphora, with olive oil on top. The colour was yellow, towards orange; with that white flower aroma that amphoras can enhance; quite full on the palate, somewhat richer, and with a pleasant structure. Phaunus Pet-Nat 2016, bottled while still fermenting; yellow apples, some citrus, and good acidity. The Rosé Vinhão 2017 (sample) had a cloudy peach colour, and a promising acidity. Phaunus Palhete 2016 is a fresh and lovely amphora-elevated wine, made from both red and white grapes with skin-contact for 6-8 weeks. I will come back to this in a wine-of-the-week post. The Vinhão 2017 was pressed by foot, fermented by itself, and no further extraction: Dark, with a violet hue; dark fruits, blackberry, flowers, raspberry, and decent acidity. Lots of character and energy!
Galicia
Over the border to Spain, and two Galician wines we tasted at the DOP restaurant, run by the celebrated local chef Rui Paula.
Finca Teira 2014(Manuel Formigo) comes from the inland DO Ribeiro: It’s made from godello, treixadura and torrontés. The wine is light yellow; a little buttery, mineral, with darker citrus (orange/mandarine); broad, full on the palate, with the acidity to match. Traste 2015 (José Aristeguí) is another inland Galician wine, this time from Valdeorras (neighbouring the Castilan region of Bierzo). The grapes are garnacha tintorera (alicante bouschet) and mencía. Dark; rich and warm (15% alc.), hints of morello, and some coffee; tough tannins, the alcohol shows again in the finish, but it’s not without charm either.
Trás-os-Montes
Romano Cunha
Here we are talking about a collaboration with Raúl Pérez, especially known from Bierzo, Spain. These are stylish wines. Mirandela 2015 (from Tras-os-Montes north) is a white field blend of moscatel-malvasia a.o.: Pear, citrus; quite full, good acidity. Tinto 2010 from tinta amarela, tinta roriz and touriga nacional: Dark; very fresh for a 10, red fruits, good structure.
Mario Cunha
Among the rest from this region the following stood out. Quinta de Arcossó Reserva 2009: Dark colour; dark fruits (morello, blackcurrant); powerful, evident tannins, some alcohol in finish.
Douro
Conceito
Rita Marques has impressed for some years with remarkably elegant wines for a hot region like Douro. Near Vila Nova de Foz Côa in the Douro Superior her ranges are called Contraste and Conceito, and she also makes some port.
Contraste 2016 from various grapes: Light; very fresh, citric, herbs; luscious, soft and natural, with an integrated acidity. Conceito 2016, fermented in barrel, a field blend: Light; white flowers, peach, some vanilla, honey; full on the palate. Ontem (=yesterday in Portuguese) 2016, Terras de Beira, in other words from outside the Douro. The grape varieties include encruzado and rabigato, and the soils are granitic. It’s a flowery, fruity, full wine with vibrant acidity and evident mineral tones.
Contraste 2015: Cherry red; red fruits; soft, some tannnin structure. Conceito 2015: Dark colour; dark and red berries, some vanilla, mint, some toast, but fruit-driven nevertheless. Legítimo 2016: A carbonic maceration wine: Purple, violet; dark fruits, pepper, a bit lactic; young tannins. Outem 2015, a wine made from baga 60-70%: Bright red; some green pepper, raspberry; cool and fresh, and some structure.
Rita and Manuel
Dona Berta
The Verdelho family is found near Vila Nova de Foz Côa too, and I have tasted many of their Dona Berta wines through a mutual friend. The wines, made by professor in oenology Virgilio Loureiro, I have learned to recognize as well-made wines, more robust than elegant. They are proud of their rabigato, and deservedly so. The Rabigato Reserva Vinhas Velhas 2016 made in inox was full and creamy, with notes of citrus, nuts, wax and melon. Among the other wines worth mention were first Sousão Reserva 2013, dark and fruit-driven, juicy with some spice and lickorice. Then the Reserva 2013, an “entry-level” blend: This is a fresh red, with notes of red berries, plums, an earthy touch, but with a quite elegant structure. Tinto Cão Reserva 2012: A structured wine with red fruits, blackberries, solid tannins and good acidity.
Quinta do Romeu
This is one of the most northern wineries in the Douro Superior, a really cool place north of Vila Nova de Foz Côa. They work biodynamically, and have organic certification. It’s always spontaneous fermentation, and SO2 only after malolactic and before bottling.
Quinta do Romeu 2016: Open, immediate and aromatic, with red fruits and herbs; smooth, glyceric, and a good acidity. Quinta do Romeu Rosé 2016: Light salmon colour; strawberry, gooseberry; fresh, with a good natural acidity. Quinta do Romeu Tinto 2011: Dark cherry red; red fruits; juicy, luscious, cool and fresh on the palate. Quinta do Romeu Reserva 2015: Made from touriga nacional, touriga franca and sousão, fermented in lagares of granite, moderate extraction: Dark red; smells of dark berries, tobacco; full on the palate with a good acidity. Quinta do Romeu Touriga Nacional 2015: Dark, dense, violet; aroma of dark fruits with leather; young and robust tannins. They also make a colheita port.
Folias do Baco
Tiago Sampaio is the winemaker of Folias de Baco, a project he started in 2007. He never forgets the roots and the terroir, but it’s always something creative about his wines. And though he can experiment at every stage of the process, the extraction is always very gentle. He is found in Favaios, the traditional moscatel stronghold, in the sub-region of Cima Corgo, and the vines are on schist and granite at an altitude between 500-700m.
Tiago Sampaio
When he came back from Oregon with a degree in oenology in 2007, he established the brand Olho no Pé. The latest editions however, come under the name Uivo.
I tasted a cloudy, fruity and very tasty Uivo Pet Nat from the very early harvested 2017 (started 8. August), a very fresh, flowery Olho no Pé Moscatel from the same vintage, smooth but also with a lovely acidity, and the Olho no Pé Vinhas Velhas 2016, a no SO2, skin contact, barrel-fermented wine with more colour, somewhat tropic, waxy aroma, and a glyceric appearance in the mouth – a wine for keeping.
Among the reds there was the Uivo Renegado Tinto 2017 (a field blend with both red and white grapes, so to call it rosé is maybe better), a little turbid, earthy, strawberry/raspberry, and a tough grapefruity acidity, and the light, transparent Olho no Pé Pinot Noir 2014 with raspberry, full and round. Uivo Tinta Francisca 2016, had a deeper colour, very fruity with red berries and plum, juicy and grapey in the mouth, with a graphitic mineral touch. The last wine I will mention here is the impressive Olho no Pé Colheita Tardia 2012, an orange/amber wine with sweet honeyed bouquet from 100% botrytisized grapes.
Quinta do Infantado,João and Álvaro Roseira
Infantado was the first winery to export directly from the Douro valley in the 1980’s, and I visited them twice shortly after. They weren’t given first priority in the tasting hall this time, but at the DOP restaurant of Rui Paula we tasted two ports and the Roseira 2011, a project from Joaõ Roseira of Infantado (and Simplesmente Vinho, of course). Dark colour; red berries and forest fruits; good tannins, still young (good with baby goat). Two well-matured ports: the Colheita 2007, a tawny with vintage, had a young, red colour, beginning developement; figs, nuts, berries, elderberry; fruity, not very sweet, long. Vintage Port 1997 (magnum): Very fruity (blackberry), but also with some chocolate, spices and a warm, raisiny hint. Lots of tannin in the mouth, matching acidity, and still fruity after all these years.
Bairrada
Casa de Saima
This was an occation to meet the lovely Graça Miranda again, whom I had not seen since I visited the winery in Sangalhos many years ago. Saima was known as a tratitional producer, and I have still a few older vintages in my own cellar, such as the superb Garrafeiras 1991 and 2001, and I remember a foot-trodden rosé with more than 10 years of age when it was released. But they also embraced the new opportunities that appeared some years ago, with new grape varieties such as merlot.
Graça Miranda
The white Vinhas Velhas 2017 (sample) was light; fruity, with citrus and apples; full, concentrated, good acidity, fresh. I think this will be great in a not too distant future. The same wine from 2016 (a hot year) was waxy and herby, but also with fine flower notes; full in the mouth, with a fine acidity. Garrafeira 2015 (the first garrafeira white), made in old oak with 3 months of batonnage in big 3.000L vats: Darker, more creamy, quite waxy, with a touch of honey, concentrated, glyceric, smooth, and long. Promising.
The Pinot Noir 2015 I found interesting; fruity and saline. Baga Tonel 10 2014 (10 is the name of the vat [tonel in Portuguese], while 14 is obviously the vintage): Light colour; red berries, forest fruits, some greenness; luscious in the mouth, tannins still come creeping, and a good acidity ends it all. Baga Vinhas Velhas Grande Reserva 2014: Grande Reserva means here that it must be in oak for at least 24 months. The wine is cherry red, has some greenness, good fruit, lots of tannins, and good acidity. Maybe a classic Saima with great ageing potential.
Lisboa
Quinta do Montalto
I have known André Pereira of Montalto and Pedro Marques of Vale da Capucha for some years, visited their quintas and met them at fairs, such as the London natural wine fairs. André not only makes good wines, but with an almost unbeatable quality-price ratio. His farm is in Ourém, in the Encostas d’Aire area, some of the vineyards in Leiria, but most of the wines are classified as regional Lisboa.
André Pereira
André is currently experimenting with amphora, coated with natural resin. An clay-aged fernão pires from 2017 (the name is to be announced, possibly something with ‘talha’, denoting clay wines in Portugal), harvested early, was light in colour; flowery, fresh, fresh, but also nutty and a bit waxy, and full of life. His Medieval d’Ourem 2017 (DOC Encostas d’Aire) is based on an old Ourém tradition. It’s defined in the strict DOC rules that it must be 20% red and the rest white grapes (here tricadeira and fernão pires). The 2017 was light red, with a lovely raspberry scent; luscious and round, but also with a citrussy freshness. Although the alcohol is 14,5% (spring was hot and dry) this must be the best “medieval” wine I have tasted from André so far.
A Touriga Nacional 2017, this one also aged in amphora: Dark, violet; aroma of flowers, red fruits, blackcurrant; a touch of tannin, and also a bit warm at 14,5%. As the name suggests Cepa Pura is a series of varietal wines. Cepa Pura Baga 2016 was totally destemmed, put in 50% used barrel, and the rest inox. 2016 was a difficult year here, with a great loss because of rain and fungus. The wine was nice, with and aroma of red fruits, green pepper, cherry, and some spice; fresh and luscious in the mouth, with soft tannins. Cepa Pura Fernão Pires Late Harvest 2015: This is another example of fernão pires’ many talents: Yellow colour; aroma of yellow fruits, citrus and honey; semi sweet, rich, and with a good acidity. No botrytis.
Alentejo
One of the big revelations this year was Cabeças do Reguengo. They currently have 11 ha. vineyards, in the north of Alentejo, near the São Mamede national park. Rui Felé tells that they encourage the biodiversity, with man, wildlife, olives, other crops and vines in harmony. The grape harvest is all done in a single day and in the cellar there is very little intervention. The only product used is a little SO2. The wines stay in old oak, and in the near future only black oak – the autochthonous species.
One of the wines that stood out was an orange wine called Luminoso 2016. It’s made from arinto, fernão pires and rupeiro, had 10 days skin-contact, no SO2. The colour is orange/amber; aroma of peel, nectarine, mandarine, a touch of honey; full, structured (tannin), and fruit all the way. The red Felisbela (“my mother”, says Rui), no SO2: Dark cherry; dark fruits, blackcurrant, forest fruits; a bit carbonic, a feature that matches the slightly warm fruit. Courelas da Torre 2015, aragonêz, trincadeira, alicante bouschet: dark; mature fruits, blackcurrant, round, full, some lickorice. There was also a pleasant rosé, quite dark and with some structure: Courelas da Torre Rosé 2016.
Under the Cabeças label came wines like Equinocio 2015, aged in mainly old wood for one year: Some butter, nuts, and full on the palate. Seiva 2014: Red and dark fruits, concentrated flavours, long. Solstício 2015, made with whole bunches: Dark colour; wild fruits; rich and a bit tannic.
Quinta do Mouro
Quinta do Mouro is one of the famous producers of Alentejo, based in the northernly Estremoz, and one of the few (maybe together with Herdade do Mouchão) who strongly believed in the variety alicante bouschet at a time with castelão (locally called periquita) was popular with both producers and local wine authorities. I meet Miguel Louro father and son, the father fronting Mouro and the son both this and his own project. Mouro is about as good as Alentejo gets, and they have a freshness that is difficult to achieve if you’re not located near the mountains in the Portalegre sub-region. So here are a few, only briefly described (partly because I visited them late in the evening when the crowds came in and the music was turned louder, and I actually was “on my way” back to the hotel for a rest).
From Miguel junior’s project Apelido 2016, a fresh and clean white, a wine with the 1 o (primero =first) symbol), Nome 2016, full, rich on glycerine, with good acidity, and Apelido 2015, a dark, fruit-driven red, also with some earthy notes.
Some brief notes on the Mouro range too: Zagalos Reserva 2013: Dark colour; wild fruits, blackcurrant, blackberry; full in the mouth. Quinta do Mouro 2012: Dark; red and dark fruits, balsamic (menthol); full and complete. Quinta do Mouro (Goliardos) 2012, a wine made with some cabernet in the blend, various types of oak, in collaboration with the Goliardos (see an interview with Silvia here): Very dark, dense, almost opaque; still cool fruit, balsamic: a lot of tannins, but not aggressive at all.
It was in the evening of the Haro Station Wine Experience. Lunch was over and I was walking around in the streets of the Barrio de la Estación, where many of the leading bodegas establish themselves after the railroad came to town and a new area started, with Rioja as a leading brand and Haro as its capital.
I decided to step into the mythical bodega and there stood María José López de Heredia opening a mysterious bottle. I didn’t know exactly what it was when she poured it. But indeed I understood that it was a white Tondonia and that I had stepped back in time.
María José opens the white ’64
López de Heredia’s wines must be one of the most legendary in Spain, and well-known for being made the same way since the winery’s foundation 130 years ago.
Only grapes from their own vineyards are used, for this wine one from their most emblematic Viña Tondonia, a 100 hectares pago not far from the bodega. The soil is clay with a high limestone content. It’s a large vineyard with varying plantings and grape varieties, but average age is around 50 years. The cultivation is organic.
To get the fermentation going they simply wait. And if it looks like it’s going to be difficult one can only open the windows, as in Haro there are often big differences in night and day temperatures.
Art nouveau, a building style in fashion at the turn of the century
The wine is made from 85% viura, 15% malvasía and has 12% alc. It stayed 6 months in wooden deposits, then 9 years in old barriques of American oak, treated in the bodega’s own cooperage. It was racked manually 18 times, then clarified with egg whites. It was then bottled from the barrels in July 1973 without filtering.
Viña Tondonia Blanco 1964(R. López de Heredia)
Golden colour towards amber. Notes of dried fruits, toasted almonds, citrus and a touch of honey (without the sweetness, if that makes sense). It’s almost like walking in an old sherry bodega. Glyceric and rich, with a smooth texture. Low alcohol, high natural acidity, and a salty finish. But even if there are other barrel-aged whites this is almost in a category of its own.
Price: High (if you can find it at an auction)
Lastly, the bodega is always referred to as a very traditionalist bodega, and rightly so. Here is how they define their form of traditionalism:
I’m in the Spanish capital again, and a visit to the Angelita Madrid seems very appropriate. Having not booked a table on a weekend’s night will most often mean that the only option is a place in the bar. Which is nice. This time I was sitting next to Federico, a young Argentinian who runs the splendid Acid Café coffeeshop in the museums area (Prado).
I will come back to Angelita and their extensive list of artisan and natural wines by both glass and bottle. This week’s wine is an orange wine from Zamora, that I hadn’t tasted before. The winery is found in Villamor de los Escuderos, south of Zamora town, not far from Salamanca.
The wine is made from godello 50% from centenary vineyards, and albillo real from new plantings. The soils are stones and sand over clay. Height above sea level is 800-900 m.
The producer says that this is a modern variant of the ancestral “embabujado” technique, that is, wine made with all its components. The grapes were partially destemmed before fermentation that finished it in oak barrels. It has not been clarified and it has been bottled after a light filtering to remove turbid. Total So2 is less than 6 mg/l.
Berretes 2014(Microbodega Rodríguez Morán)
Light orange. Aroma of white flowers, orange peel, a touch of honey, chalk. Lightly structured with good natural acidity.
Eulogio Pomares has been the winemaker at Bodegas Zárate since the 2000 harvest. He has started to make some wines for himself too, in tiny quantities under the label Grandes Vinos Desiguales, and some are quite sensational.
The soils are granitic, and the grapes for this wine come from parcels that Eulogio has replanted and using biodynamic principles and without rootstocks. Only native yeasts are used, the wine stays in 1,200 litre chestnut foudres and stayed 8 months, where it also undergoes malo-lactic fermentation.
This one was fermented and aged in big 1200 liters vats of chestnut. The vines are seventy year old, and they are located in Castrelo-Cambados, in the central part of Salnés, probably the most important sub-region of DO Rías Baixas.
An informative back label
We have seen several styles of albariño over the years. Some of us are a bit tired of the commercial, aromatic versions. Too heavily oaked wines were plentiful at a time, and always out of question. Later there were many lees-aged wines; a good idea, but this too can make the wines more similar to each other. I like the ones on the wild side, made without corrections. Here is yet another interpretation, a chestnut and lees aged single vineyard wine from old vines.
Carralcoba Albariño 2016(Eulogio Pomares/ Grandes Vinos Desiguales)
Straw yellow. Apple, lemon, pear and white flowers on the nose. It has a fantastic concentration, is full, with a lemony acidity and with an extraordinary length. It has a touch of oxidative character, but it’s held in check, and is balanced incredibly. Close to perfection.
Price: Medium
Food: The best seafood you can think of, creatively elaborated
London’s Raw fair is over. This wine fair, founded by Isabelle Légeron (now also with meetings in Berlin and New York), is a two day celebration of individual, organic wines with a wide range of exhibitors. But what unifies them is their desire to express their place in their own unique way. Some have a no sulphur approach, while some are more pragmatic to this question.
This year the fair was back at the Strand, in central London, after two years further east. The venue is open and clean with good light, good for wine tasting. Wine bar and restaurant Noble Rot had their stand, and it was possible to savour food of many sorts.
Most of the artisans came from Europe. The bigger wine producing countries like Italy and France, and to a certain extent Spain, had their fair shares of exhibitors. But smaller wine countries were also represented, maybe most surprisingly Romania and the Czech Republic.
Among the more established producers, especially in this context, were Eric Texier (with expressive wines from Côtes du Rhône), the Catalan trio Mas Martinet-Venus la Universal (from Priorat/ Montsant, with increased focus on fruitiness than before), and mainly sparkling wine producers Mas de Serral- Pepe Raventòs and Recaredo-CellerCredo, Frank Cornelissen (who really has become a top Sicilian producer in every respect), not to mention Friulian neighbours Radikon and Gravner with their textbook skin-contact wines.
An opportunity for vignerons like Fabio Bartolomei to communicate directly with their audience
There were many contenders. Aside of the aforementioned ones here producers that I have appreciated for a long time were from France, Dom. Milan (Provence), Dom.de Clovallon (Languedoc); from Italy, Carussin-Bruna Ferro (Piemonte), Corte Sant’Alda (Veneto), 1701 (Franciacorta); Spain, Vinos Ambiz (Gredos/ Madrid); Portugal, both two participants, Quinta da Palmirinha (Minho) and Casa de Mouraz (Dão); Austria, Meinklang (Burgenland).
But not least is this an occasion to be surprised.
Here follow some memorable moments.
Éric Teixier
Chat Fou 2016(Éric Teixier)
A light entry here: A luscious, inspiring côtes du rhône. Light ruby; red berries, herbal, lightly spiced; juicy, fresh, just a hint of tannins, good acidity. A light, elegant vintage of this wine.
Carles and Montse
Carles Mora Ferrer and his close friend Montse have produced natural wines since 2008; no chemicals, no additives. I chose their cabernet; not pressed, fermented in inox, 20-25 days of maceration. Total sulphites is a mere 4 mg/L.
Cabernet Sauvignon Ánfora 2015(Clot de les Soleres)
Dark cherry, violet hint; red fruits, blackcurrant, green pepper; structured, good acidity.
Mas Martinet has been a favourite for many years, and maybe the most influential among the Priorat “pioneers” from the 1980’s, thanks to both father Josep Lluís’ teachings, daughter Sara’s and son-in-law René’s consulting and general inspiration through their wines. Sara Pérez, current winemaker, was also in the avant-garde when turning to organics in the early 2000’s. Venus is their side project in Montsant. Here I chose their white Venus, a varietal xarel.lo, fermented 20% with skins and elevated in big barrels. No added sulphite.
Venus Blanc 2014(Venus la Universal)
Yellow colour; very fresh, citrus, litchi some balsamic; glyceric, creamy and saline. So expressive!
Ivan and Ana Gómez
Bodegas Gratias of Castilla-La Mancha showed some good wines. I chose a field blend of some 20 varieties, many of them in danger of extinction, a crowdfunding project, “gratias to all those people
(‘gratias mecenas’) who believed” in the project, as they say. Fermentation was carried out in small deposits of 5 hectoliters, with whole clusters. The ageing was carried out no the lees, in oak, jars and steel. No clarification or cold stabilization.
¿Y tu de quién eres? 2016(B. Gratias)
Dark cherry colour; red and dark fruits, a hint of spice; juicy and drinkable, but also with a touch of dryness (from the stems).
Thyge of Bodega Frontío
Here were several surprises at one stand: A new, young producer in the remote Arribes, Castilian area bordering Portugal. Furthermore the man behind the bodega is Danish, Thyge Benned Jensen. I’m learning every year, says Thyge, which is good. But much is already very good: Taste his two-weeks skin-contact Naranjito, another surprise for this region. The variety is doña blanca (even though the label indicates something else).
Naranjito 2017 (B. Frontío)
Yellow with orange tones; mature apples, some peel; quite glyceric, with a supple acidity.
Andrea and Petr Nejedlich of Dobrá
Cuvée Kambrium 2014(Dobrá Vinice)
A wine from the Podyji national park in Moravia, Czech Republic, a blend of veltlín, ryzlink and sauvignon, as the back label reads. Light colour; gooseberry, white pepper; both round and light, but with good acidity too.
See also an article about Moravian wines tasted in England here.
Mladen Rožanić, jazz fan with creative Istrian wines
Roxanich of Croatian peninsula Istria makes powerful natural wines.
This is a field blend including syrah, cabernet franc, lambrusco, barbera, borgonja, malvasia nera. Bottling went without filtration, after 9 years of aging in big wooden vats and barrels. I like the reds. But the white ones, most often orange in colour, really has an unequalled quality. You can read more about them and another featured wine here.
Ines U Crvenom (in Red) 2008(Roxanich)
Red, developed colour (towards orange); a volatile feeling, mature red berries, dried fruits and roasted almonds; weighty, packed with fruit, plays with oxidation.
Fernando Paiva and his importer Ricardo Rodrigues of Portuguese Story
Fernando’s wines are marked by the Atlantic influence. His whites are covered several places on this site. This time he showed that the light (light-weight, not light in colour) vinhão can be fascinating when aged too. So that must be the choice.
Quinta da Palmirinha Vinhão 2012 (F. Paiva)
Dark with violet and some red; incredibly fresh, cherry and tint; round, mineral, with integrated acidity. It has an uplifting lightness, a feeling of weightlessness.
Marinella Camerani
Corte Sant’Alda is a well-known Valpolicella producer, mostly in the more classic end of the spectrum. But the wines are thoroughly made, they are good, and they have nothing of the negative characteristics that the area has become known for in many wine circles today. Their classic wines are good. And Marinella presented an intriguing varietal molinara rosé aged in Tuscan amphorae, a vino de tavola with a total of 2 mg sulphur.
Agathe 2016(Corte Sant’Alda)
Salmon pink; flowers, strawberry and a touch of white pepper; no the palate quite smooth, but also with a surprisingly high acidity.
Lorenzo (left) and Andrea Pendin: Thumbs up for another inspiring meeting
L’Armonia of Vicenza (Veneto), Italy was one of the really great finds at this year’s Raw. Among many good wines I chose this wonderful garganega, from older plants (60-80 years). This is both an early harvest and a late harvest (with some botrytis), then blended. The different harvest times are due to Andrea’s friendship with and inspiration from Sébastien Riffault of Loire. (Read more here.)
Perla 2016 (Tenuta l’Armonia)
Complex aroma of mature apples, nuts, flowers, apricot, towards honey; medium full on the palate, and a salty, mineral aftertaste. Integrated, natural acidity.
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
