Wine Chords -

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

Leave a Comment

Articles

Rising from the Ashes: Tavares de Pina’s fight

Published 7. March 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

In September 2024, João Tavares de Pina’s estate, Quinta da Boavista in Penalva do Castelo, Portugal, was devastated by a wildfire. The blaze reduced the family home to ashes and destroyed 85% of the vineyards.

To support João and his family during this challenging time, friends and colleagues organized several solidarity initiatives. Among them was a wine lottery, where winemakers from various countries donated special bottles to raise funds for the reconstruction of Quinta da Boavista. Additionally, a GoFundMe campaign was launched to provide further support.

At Simplesmente Vinho 2025, João presented a wine as part of his own crowdfunding project. Terras de Tavares Reserva 2004, made from touriga nacional, jaen and rufete, is a richly textured and mature wine—dark with brown hues at the edges—offering aromas of ripe and dried fruits, plums, and prunes, alongside flavors of ripe berries, spices, and dark chocolate, with silky tannins. The project itself is well worth supporting, but the wine is also truly exceptional.

Leave a Comment

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.

Leave a Comment

Articles

The vineyards of Pico

Published 27. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I am concluding a three-day visit to the breathtaking island of Pico, where vines grow between black volcanic rock walls, protected from the fierce Atlantic winds. This UNESCO-listed landscape tells a story of resilience, tradition, and wines with striking minerality and a taste of the sea.

Every stone wall, every vine, and every bottle speaks of centuries of adaptation and determination. Pico’s wines are not just a product of nature but of human perseverance.

I can explain the technical terms like currais and cañadas—and I will, later. But when it comes to the impression these vineyards leave on me, words fall short. The scarce soil they have was transported from neighboring islands some 500 years ago.

A heartfelt thank you to the producers who welcomed me, sharing their wines, stories, and challenges. A special thanks to João Roseira of Simplesmente Vinho for sending me on this journey, and to Fortunato García from Czar for organising an unforgettable visit. I’ll be back.

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

Articles

Simplesmente… Vinho Jerez edition

Published 20. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

I’m back in Porto, for this year’s edition of Simplesmente… Vinho. Starting officially tomorrow, but we are now gathered in Niepoort’s lodge. Leader of one of the classic port producers, Dirk Niepoort, was among those who spearheaded today’s boom in 2008 with his collaboration with Equipo Navazos and the wine Navazos Niepoort. The wine was made from grapes grown in an albariza vineyard in Jerez and fermented without fortification, undergoing a period under flor, thus combining freshness, depth, and a subtle saline character. It quickly became a cult wine.

Tonight, Dirk poured both the 2014 and 2016 vintages of that wine, alongside some backlog vintages of his reds and a stunning white port from 1895. Ricardo Freitas from Barbeito added to the lineup with an exceptional 50 year old Madeira..

Ricardo Freitas presenting his contribution.
Dirk Niepoort next to him.

The Jerez boom is about a return to the vineyard, organic farming, and singular wines. It is this movement that Simplesmente seeks to highlight by presenting 14 producers from the sherry region this year—both raw and refined. That same energy—of pushing boundaries while respecting history—is what Simplesmente Vinho is all about.

Beyond the wines, the evening took on an artistic dimension as well, with guests contributing their own creative expressions—spontaneous, vibrant, and very much in the spirit of the gathering.

Ramiro Ibáñez and Willy Pérez, two of the leading lights in today’s boom

From tomorrow, the focus shifts to Alfândega do Porto, where the festival truly comes alive. The grand riverside space will host winemakers, drinkers, and thinkers from across Iberia, with a special spotlight on the producers from Marco de Jerez. They’ve come to challenge perceptions, to pour wines that blur the lines between past and future, between oxidative depth and raw immediacy.

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

Articles

A classic entry-level Rioja

Published 5. February 2025 by Vidar Kenneth Johansen

This wine I brought to a dinner to go with a terrine of grouse, a task that it fulfilled with excellence. Its creator Sandra Bravo is a favourite on this blog, and I wanted to take the opportunity now that this wine celebrates its 10 years anniversary. In fact the same wine has been featured before. Here is a link to the former blogpost.

The cultivation is organic, the must was fermented with natural yeasts in steel, clay and cement, and it spent some 6 months in used French oak barrels. In fact it was probably the first wine in Rioja to be elevated in amphora.

When I last reviewed it in 2017 the wine was at the height of its fruitiness, with a lot of cool, fresh red fruits, and also with a slightly roasted tone. Obviously, now all of that was gone giving way to the usual time markers. Drinking the wine was like a pleasant reunion with an old friend. I have another bottle that I will not save much longer though.

Sierra de Toloño 2014 (Sierra de Toloño)

Deep granate with brick rim. Blackberry, with figs and prunes, leather and hint of underwood. Mature fruit in the mouth, medium weight, with mature tannins, integrated acidity. It’s a bit drying and past its prime, but nevertheless truly pleasant.

Leave a Comment

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

Leave a Comment

Wine Chords Posts