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Tag: organic

Wine of the Week

Renvivas, a remarkable rufete

I spent 24 hours in Sierra de Salamanca, the smallest DO in Spain, and visited four of its fourteen producers. Viñas Serranas wasn’t originally on the program. But luckily I had a couple of hours break. And vinegrower Bosi Jiménez, who delivers grapes to Bodegas Cámbrico and showed me their winery, gave me Miquel Udina’s contacts. So the next day I arrived at their bodega (a former fruit cooperative) in the small village of Cepeda and tasted the whole range.

Bosi and Miquel are two of the four partners in this interesting project. Like in all the bodegas here the ingenious rufete is the dominant grape, a really promising variety. They also work with rufete blanco (no relation) and other local grapes. They own 12 hectares, small plots high up on terraces and always in goblet (called en vaso in Spain).

Renvivas can be regarded their top wine. It’s based on rufete sourced from a less than half a hectare plot in Miranda del Castañar, planted in 1930 on a steep hillside. But it also contains a small percentage of rufete blanco. The soil is varied with presence of both granite and the area’s special type of hard slate called corneana.

The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and partly whole clusters in stainless steel, then aged in barrels of old French oak. Low-sulphur, unfined and unfiltered.

Renvivas 2019 (Viñas Serranas)

Cherry red. Bright aroma of red fruits (cherry, raspberry), herbs, stone fruit. But it also has another layer of autumn leaves and smoke. Medium-bodied, textured palate with very fine tannins, great freshness and a long finish. It’s full of flavour, and yet so light and delicate.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Nicely textured bastardo

Textura is another winery that I have known a little, but at Simplesmente Vinho I tasted the whole range. I find their portfolio sound and solid, with some stars.

Partners in Textura are Marcelo Araújo, a former hedge fund manager, and his wife, an academic professor. It was started in 2018 in Dão, on the slopes of Serra da Estrela. They work 28 ha of organic certified vineyards in Vila Nova de Tazem and Penalva do Castelo. Oenology is led by Luis Seabra. Appropriate for a winery named Textura, in 2020 they acquired a century-old textile factory in São Paio, on the banks of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park. This is now renovated, and incorporated into the winery.

D. Áurea is a tribute to Marcelo’s grandmother Áurea. It’s a 100% bastardo from the sub-region Serra da Estrela, at an altitude of 600 meters and in granite soils. It ferments in an open stainless steel tank (lagar) with 30% whole clusters and stays with the skins for 15 days after pressing. Then it ages for 1 year in old French barrels.

D. Áurea 2021 (Textura Wines)

Light ruby. Delicate aromas of red fruits (raspberry, cherry), flowery with an earthy tone. Nicely textured, with fine-grained tannins, and a fresh integrated acidity. Expressive, elegant wine for immediate consumption or medium term ageing.

Price: High

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Wine of the Week

A for Amazing

I had met Pedro Coelho several times at the Simplesmente Vinho fair in Porto, and I have tasted a few wines now and then. This year I took the opportunity to taste the whole range. Which I don’t regret. I knew his white Douro wines were extraordinary. But his rosé and reds were outstanding too.

Pedro uses only old vineyards, always spontaneous fermentations and minimal intervention. He picks early to obtain the best possible natural acidity, and the alcohol levels are generally low. A vividness and vibrancy shines through in all his wines. The Pormenor winery is located in Barcos on the left bank in Cima Corgo, but he sources grapes from high altitudes in several parts of the Douro.

I could have picked anything for this column, but I finally chose a quite unusual white. A de Arinto is exactly that, a varietal arinto from 40 year old vines in granite with clay – at 650 meters altitude in the Alijó area. It underwent a 12 hours maceration in neutral oak with whole bunches, before a gentle extraction. It clocks in at 12% alcohol.

A de Arinto 2022 (Pormenor)

Pale yellow colour. Aroma of mature lemon, some apricot and minerals. Lively, fresh acidity with a waxy, spicy fruit, and a long, salty finish. It is balanced and appealing now, but has an acidity to keep.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Real Rabigato

Last week I visited Mateus Nicolau de Almeida in Foz Côa, in the Douro Superior. This is really the land of rabigato. One of his rabigato whites I was coincidentally offered at the Prova wine bar in the center of Porto some days later.

Mateus comes from a family that has made wine for several generations, and in 2015 he set up his own project. He is dedicated to explore the characteristics of the terroir. This can be seen in the Eremitas project, that comprises three wines, all from the same variety and made in exactly the same way, but reflecting their respective terroirs.

Amon de Kelia originates from a vineyard planted in moderately deep quartz soils at an altitude of 500 metres. The grapes are macerated in granite for 3 hours. Then they pressed in a vertical press, and the must is racked by gravity into cement in an underground cellar, where it ferments spontaneously without temperature control.

Eremitas Amon de Kelia 2022 (Mateus Nicolau de Almeida)

Light straw. Discrete aromatics with yellow fruits, flowers and a mineral touch. More expressive in the mouth, with good volume, it’s fruity, fresh, and with a nicely integrated acidity.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Merlot from the East

I came across this wine at Katla, a wine bar with a decent Burgundy list but few pretentions, on a corner of central Oslo, one Thursday night not long ago.

The vineyard is located on the east side of Bordeaux, and comes under the Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux appellation. The vines are south and southwest facing on clay and limestone, overlooking the Garonne River in the village of Cambes. The vines are some 30 years old, and the cultivation is organic (formally in conversion).

The blend is 80% merlot and 20% malbec. The vinification was traditional, the maturing was done in big vats and smaller barrels.

Domaine de Saint Amand 2019 (Dom. de Saint Amand)

Dark cherry red. Aroma of mature dark fruits (blackcurrant, blackberry), leather and smoke. Good volume, dense fruit, velvety tannins. Quite simple, but fresh and good.

Price: Medium

Food: Barbecue

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Wine of the Week

Soulful Tempier

Chance had it that the same vintage of Tempier that I tasted when visiting the domaine in 2013, appeared at a dinner last week. Tempier may be most famous for their stylish rosés. I am a huge fan of their reds (not to say: whites).

From my visit to Tempier

A little piece of history. When Lucie “Lulu” Tempier married Lucien Peyraud in 1936, her father gave them Domaine Tempier, a farm that had been in the family since 1834, just outside the Mediterranean village of Bandol. Tasting a pre-phylloxera bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol (a wedding gift from his father-in-law) inspired Lucien to research the terroir of Bandol extensively. Up until that point, old vineyards planted with mourvèdre had been systematically replanted to higher-yielding varietals. However, more research not only showed its historical roots to the area, but the grape proved to be more resistant to oxidation, producing wines with great aging potential. By 1941, with the assistance of neighboring vignerons, Lucien worked with the I.N.A.O. (Institut National des Appellations d’Origines) to establish Bandol as its own A.O.C.

This story is told by Anthony Lynch, American importer, whose family are close friends with the people behind Tempier. Lynch calls Lucien the godfather of Bandol and the man who revived mourvèdre to its former glory. And he continues, “if any wine can be said to have soul, it’s Tempier”.

From my visit to Tempier

The wine comes from various sites with clay and calcareous soils. The varieties ate predominantly mourvèdre with small quantities of grapes such as grenache, cinsault and carignan. It was aged in large oak casks some 18 months before bottling.

Bandol 2011 (Domaine Tempier)

Cherry red with brick nuances. Rich nose of mature fruits (cherry, plums), herbs (cinnamon, thyme), mushroom, a touch of barnyard (maybe game). Good volume in the mouth, still plenty of fruit and some fine tannins, hints of earth and toast. Subtle and balanced, maybe at its peak now.

Price: High

2011
2011
2011
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Wine of the Week

Pleasant Montepulciano

This is a wine with great value, typical of its land and grape variety. The Bianchi-Bernetti family, the owner of the Umani Ronchi label, has been into winemaking since 1957. They started in Marque with verdicchio. Today they operate in three Italian wine regions.

The montepulciano grapes in Abruzzo are trained in the pergola system. Montipagano is a single-varietal Montepulciano from organic cultivation.

Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Montipagano 2021 (Umani Ronchi)

Violet colour. Black fruits (blackberry), plums, white flowers with herbs and earthy tones. Medium-bodied, rounded young tannins, fresh fruit and a pleasant acidity.

Price: Low

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Wine of the Week

Tasty white Toro

I say Toro, because wine lovers will know where it is. The wine is given the more generic designation Castilla y León though, but the label gives the exact address and also shows the coordinates.

we are in the southern village of El Pego, where Álvar de Dios Hernández took over his grandfather’s century-old vineyards in 2008.

Vagüera comes from a single vineyard in El Maderal further north. It sits 950 metres above sea level and surrounded by an extensive cork oak forest that shields the vines from the sun. It’s made from doña blanca grapes planted in the 1920s. They were direct-pressed, barrel-fermented and aged at least 12 months in the same barrels. The wine is neither filtered nor clarified.

Vagüera 2018 (Álvar de Dios)

Light yellow with green hints. Intense aroma with citrus (lime), green apples, white flowers. Tasty, with good volume and concentration, a refreshing acidity and good length. It’s direct, but it has also a deeper layer. No oakiness, except that it’s breathing well (from the microoxidation). Wonderful balance, and also ageing capacities.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Genuine gorgollasso

On the last day in Mallorca, 3rd January, I visited Carlos Rodríguez Furthmann in the small town of Selva. He is a veteran vigneron, but he does not own any vineyards, and for this project he buys all the grapes. This creates freedom, but in reality he says he continues to work with only the same few farmers.

The wine is made from gorgollassa, a red indigenous grape variety that Carlos calls his favourite. Elegant and subtle are two adjectives that he uses to describe it. One part of the wine was aged in 500-litre French oak barrels, another in a Mallorcan clay amphora and the remaining in stainless steel. Spontaneous fermentation. Nothing was added to the wine apart from a low dose of sulphites. It was not clarified or filtered. 

Gargo 2019 (Selva Vins)

Ruby red. Red fruits (cherry, raspberry), herbs, blackthorn (endrina), a bit earthy. Light and fresh in the mouth, smooth tannins, a slight bitterness in the finish, everything well-balanced.

Price: Medium

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Articles

Mallorcan countdown

Looking forward to spend the new year weekend in Mallorca I have begun to count down with a few wines.

Ca’n Verdura is located in Binissalem, the most historic wine town in modern times, giving name to that DO in 1991. They grow mainly native varieties such as mantonegro, callet and moll.

Supernova 2022 (Ca’n Verdura)

This wine is made from the moll variety, from a vineyard planted in 1958 on clay, limestone and gravel. The farming is organic (though not certified), and it was fermented with ingenious yeasts in stainless steel and barrel.

Light yellow with a green hint. Yellow apples, melon, white flowers and a stony minerality. Medium full, lightly creamy lees character, adequate acidity, salty, and a green touch in the finish.

Negre 2021 (Ca’n Verdura)

This is some kind of entry-level, unpretentious red, made primarily from mantonegro (60%), complemented with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, monastrell and the local callet. The mantonegro is old-vine and the rest is from different vineyards of variable age and a diversity of soils (red clay, gravel, white clay).

Dark cherry. Red fruits (cherry), ink, herbs. Medium-bodied, fruity all the way, a touch menthol and coffee. Energetic and appealing.

Francesc Grimalt is a leading figure in the restoration of the callet grape variety. In 2006 he teamed up with musician Sergi Caballero and founded the 4 Kilos winery, based in Felanitx, not far from the city of Manacor. The name is an expression for 4 million pesetas, which was their initial investment to launch the company. They practice an environmentally-friendly agriculture with minimal intervention.

Motor Callet 2021 

One of the wines tried was Motor Callet. The vintage was the same as in a previous post. I include it in the picture, and you can read more of the company and the wine here.

The Island Syndicate 2019

While the MC is dominated by red fruits, this one is darker, in colour and fruit quality, a mix between dark and red fruits. It’s a callet 60%, and also mantonegro 30% and fogoneu 10%. With this, Francesc Grimalt wanted to make a wine that smelt “like his childhood”. The wine is made with natural yeasts he found from the now-defunct co-operative winery in Felanitx ‘Es Sindicat’.

Dark cherry colour. Aroma of dark and red fruits (blackberry, cranberry, redcurrant), Mediterranean herbs, plums. Medium-bodied, a good acidity, traces of almond, some coffee. The overall feeling is though the one of a light and appealing wine.

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