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Tag: tempranillo

Articles and Wine bars and restaurants

More from Murcia

Back in Murcia for Christmas celebrations, I never miss an opportunity to visit La Gracia natural wine bar near the cathedral (and the bull ring). Sommelier Esperanza tells that they will organize a natural wine fair on the 21st of January, called #vinosinresaca (that means wine without hangover), where some 25 of the most prestigious microbodegas from all over the country will participate. I really appreciate and support the initiative, though I can’t participate this first time. You should if you are near.

This evening I chose a plain Italian focaccia to go with all three wines, that were excellent. I opened with an aperitif, the sparkler Malaherba 2019 from Finca Parera, Penedès. It’s a rich and tasty wine with lots of body based on the xarel.lo vermell (red) grape, with yellow fruits aroma with wax and iodine.

The invitation to the upcoming fair and the Duarte bobal

Next was Duarte 2022, a young bobal-tempranillo with fresh and dark berries and herbs, quite simple, but tasty. Good fruit throughout, and the tannins were quite firm and seemed young. Its maker Verónica Romero from Utiel-Requena, València is a comet in today’s natural wine sky. The wine is made with whole bunches in a variant of the carbonic maceration.

One of the more established natural wine producers in the Gredos mountains is Cható Gañán, where Kike Prados holds the reins. Navaciegos is a quite complex garnacha wine, purple coloured, aromas of red and dark fruits, also some dried herbs, and a layer of coffee. In the mouth it is full, quite dense and concentrated, with rounded tannins and good fruit. It’s made in Navahondilla, in a 0.35 hectares vineyard of 60 year old vines, at about 785 meters of altitude, with very degraded granite soil. A small part of the grapes are foottrodden and vatted with stems. The rest is destemmed. It was aged in French barrels of 500 liters at various ages.

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Articles

Spanish visit to Stavanger

An armada of Spanish producers visited Stavanger, Norway this last Tuesday with their importer Moestue Grape Selections. I participated at the following dinner at Matbaren Renaa.

Visiting from Spain were Telmo Rodríguez, Fernando García (Comando G) and Carlos “Curro” Bareño (Fedellos and Vinícola Mentridiana). Pedro Parra from Itata, Chile should have been there, but was left somewhere in Europe with covid.

Paired with the restaurant’s lobster, lamb and quail dishes were seven wines. The fino Caberrubia Saca VI from Luís Pérez was a welcome drink, a natural sherry from pago Balbaína outside Jerez. It’s a grapey, salty and fresh sherry with no added alcohol.

Telmo Rodríguez introduced his white Branco de Santa Cruz 2020 from Valdeorras. He tells that this is one of the places he spends most time nowadays. It’s made from that premium northern grape godello, with some treixadura, doña blanca and palomino, all found in a mixed vineyard together with red varieties, and matured in used oak vats. It’s a super elegant wine with good volume, textured, and a complex aroma of citrus, herbs, a touch of menthol and a stony minerality.

Fedellos started as Fedellos do Couto because they were based in that village. Now they have moved. They make wines from the Bibei valley. Peixe da Estrada 2019 is a village wine from Viana do Bolo outside both Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra designated areas, a field blend of 60-80 year old vines with predominantly mencía made with whole bunches in partially used barrels, steel, concrete and/or fiberglass tanks. Long maceration time and light extractions. It’s a fresh, delicate wine with aromas of red and dark fruits along with herbs and some balsamic.

Pedro Parra couldn’t attend as he was sick with covid and stuck somewhere in Europe. But his wines made it to Norway. Pedro is a leading figure in the new terroir-focused Chilean wave, concentrating on cinsault on granite soils. He tries to make his wines in a reductive way, at present with 20 days skin-contact.

Trane was obviously (?) dedicated to John Coltrane, an innovator and creative jazz musician. It’s a single-vineyard cinsault from a plot of highly decomposed granite soils. It fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts and some 30% full clusters and matured in big oak vats for 11 months. It’s a light wine, but also structured. The fruit is both dark and red, with hints of flowers, anise and smoke.

Fernando García represented Comando G, that has contributed to putting the Gredos mountains on the wine map. They were also on this trip promoting the book Calicata, about the wine region. The English edition was released a few months ago, and Moestue sells it on the Norwegian market. In fact I was visiting Fernando at his table when another wine was passed around. I didn’t realize this in time, but my fiancée gave me a few drops to taste. It had a strong signature of a Gredos garnacha, ruby red, ethereal, with red fruits (raspberry), flowers and smoke – in a way light, but intensely full of flavours. It turned out to be Las Iruelas 2019, a parcel wine from El Tiemblo in the Ávila province. It was earlier made by the Jiménez-Landi family winery, but is now labelled Comando G.

The last wine was a lovely rioja from the new wave, that I advocate, Telmo’s Tabuérniga 2019. It comes from a cool vineyard in the village of Labastida, planted with old tempranillo vines, some graciano, mazuelo, garnacha and garnacha blanca. The soil is shallow and calcareous. It’s a serious wine; somewhat austere and maybe a little closed, but underneath are red and wild berries waiting to burst; it’s full of fruit and the tannins are elegant. It’s a wine that invites you to meet again, so let’s remember it and follow. A wonderful evidence that a wine does not need to be oaky to be complex nor ageworthy.

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Wine of the Week

Unrivalled rioja

Here is a prime example of the “new” Rioja, made by Pedro Balda, one of the younger authorities in the field.

Pedro Balda is director of the research department of Vintae, a group that started in La Rioja, but has expanded to many Spanish areas. Pedro is himself from Sonsierra, and after workingr with many wineries of the world, such as Chile’s Viña Santa Cruz, the United States’ Marimar Estate, and New Zealand’s Dry River, he has brought his experience home to Spain.

He is also an academic, earning his doctorate in enology with a thesis discovering two minority varieties which had been recovered in Rioja and triumphing with the wines le makes from his family’s vineyards. He is the youngest doctor of enology in Spain, currently professor at the university of Logroño.

He started his personal project in 2008, in his native San Vicente de la Sonsierra. There Pedro works without the addition of sulphites in any of the points of the process. Nor are yeasts, bacteria or any other agent that can accelerate fermentations added. His way of working is simply to let everything happen naturally.

Pedro makes two wines. The most expensive one is Vendimia Seleccionada. This one is called Cosecha, a varietal tempranillo. In the selection priority is given to the smallest clusters with the most intense aromas. The grapes are always hand-harvested, but in the Cosecha they were mechanically destemmed. The extraction is light. He works in the most natural way possible, and no sulfites are added at any stage.

The label is a tribute to the land and his ancestors.

Cosecha 2016 (Pedro Balda)

Dark cherry red. Ripe aromas of black and red fruits (blackberry, cranberry), plums, flowers, ink and a mineral touch. Good volume and concentration, smooth tannins, light cocoa, and a long aftertaste.

Price: High

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Goyo’s Valdeolmos 16

This is one of three single vineyard wines that Goyo García Viadero makes from centenarian vines. The three fincas are premium examples of the concept of terroir, that in many ways has been neglected in Ribera del Duero.

In the cellar all grapes are destemmed by hand, pressed gently, and fermentations are slow. in cold, ancient cellar. He uses very finely grained barrels from Bordeaux, most often taken over from Bodegas Valduero, where his sister is winemaker. Sulfur and other additives are never used. This results in honest and elegant wines with a strong sense of place that also fit any definition of natural wine.

Finco Valdeolmos has always dark fruits (blackberry), a touch of licorice; gentle tannins and some minerality.

Finca Valdeolmos 2016 (Goyo García Viadero)

Dark cherry. Ripe wild and red fruits (blackberry, cherry), sun-dried tomatoes, a touch of licorice. Compact fruit on the palate, fine tannins, integrated acidity. A youthful natural wine with many years ahead.

Price: Medium

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Ribera Rosé

This is a Ribera rosé with lots of character, from a classic winery that is steadily improving, or should we say: modernizing. This wine however has an inspiration from the rosés from earlier times. This can also be seen in the name and the label, porrón being the traditional drinking vessel.

It’s made from predominantly tempranillo (a small part is a historic field-blend). The grapes grow in east-facing plots at an altitude of 800-900 metres. The climate is continental with mediterranean features.

The cultivation is organic with biodynamic methods (Demeter certified). The grapes for this wine are harvested twice, the first one for freshness and the second -also relatively early- for more body. The first harvest undergoes a pre-fermentation maceration for 5 days, the second for 8 days. After a separate malolactic fermentation, the two wines are blended in February and continue their journey together in old barrels and concrete vats where they rest for 11 months. The wine is bottled without filtering, clarification nor addition of sulphur.

El Porrón de Lara 2021 (Peñalba López)

Garnet red. Fresh aroma, ripe red fruits (blueberry, cherry), flowers, earth, a balsamic note. Medium-bodied, juicy and savoury, silky tannins, red berries fruit, good concentration, mineral. Improves with air.

Price: Medium

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Wine bars and restaurants

Go to Gota

Gota is a relatively new wine bar in Madrid, in the Chueca district. It’s quite hidden, with no signposts. You simply have to know where it is and look for the doorbell, that is the only place you can find the name. I popped in a couple of hours ago. I have booked my first visit to Les Mouvais Garçons, a few blocks away, tonight. But the talk of the town said that I should pay Gota a visit, so there was no time left, as I leave tomorrow.

Manager is Fede Graciano from Argentina. He opened Acid Café near Atocha some years ago, which is recommended for coffee freaks, and Acid Bakehouse (I think it was later). Nahuel is his sommelier, when he’s not making his own natural wine in El Tiemblo, Gredos.

At Gota they specialize in natural wines and homemade kombuchas. They offer a sharing menu that works well with their wine list. They specialize in music of various types, that can be as “acid” as the wines and reflecting the name of the original bar. But don’t think of it as a noisy place, it’s a haven, relaxed and perfect for wine lovers who want to disconnect after a hard day at work.

I had two wines at this first try. 

Verbena 2022 (Uva de Vida), a pét nat from Santa Olalla in the Toledo province, based on graciano and tempranillo made with direct press, malolactic, three months on lees and no additions.

Ruby red, with bubbles. Smells of cherries and flowers. Rounded in the mouth, no sharp acidity, but still fresh and saline. The wine is simple, but Herbie Hancock’s music is complex, says Nahuel, referring to what plays in the background.

1301 2021 (Samuel Párraga), an orange wine vijiriega from the Málaga province partly made under flor.

Amber colour. On the nose, oxidized notes, like almonds and nuts, and flowers. Full and savoury, with a salty finish.

The pét nat went with an oyster, and the orange wine with rugbrød (I recognized the Norwegian/Danish spelling there), sourdough bread with butter and anchovies.

A place to go to when in Madrid.

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Wine of the Week

Charming Ribera

El Holgazán is a charming wine from the highlands of Ribera del Duero. With 7 months of oak it would have qualified for the “roble” category. But traditional oakiness is not Marta Castrillo and Cesar Maté’s objective, and the oak is used for a controlled microoxidation, thus adding complexity to the finished wine. 

The wine originates from a vineyard in Tubilla del Lago (Burgos province) at 920. It’s a varietal tnto fino (tempranillo), hand-harvested from a special plot of 25 year old vines called “El Holgazán” (the lazybones), that sits on clay/limestone soils.

The grapes are carefully selected by hand before the pumping process. The best quality grapes are crushed naturally by gravity and fermented in conical tanks to concentrate the natural flavours. The malolactic fermentation takes place in barrels of various ages and sizes. The juice is kept on the skins for about 8 days, then after fermentation is complete the wine is aged in oak and concrete.

El Holgazán 2019 (Bod. Marta Maté) 

Deep cherry with purple tinges. Intense aromas and flavours of dark and red fruits (blackberry, cherry, raspberry), with licorice and a mineral touch. Medium-bodied, with velvety tannins, a nicely fresh yet integrated acidity and a quite long fruity finish. Nothing in excess, everything in harmony.

Price: Medium

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Articles

Raw Wine Copenhagen: Long live the locals!

The local heroes this time are six winemakers from Castilla y León who all participated with their stand at the Raw Wine Fair in Copenhagen. They were Elisa de Frutos (Vinos Malaparte), Ismael Gozalo (Microbio), Jorge Vega (Puerta del Viento), Ricardo López (Vinos al Margen), Alfredo Maestro and Kiko Calvo (Bodegas Bigardo).

As seen from my chair, from left: Elisa, Ricardo, Alfredo, Isabelle, Jorge, Ismael and Kiko

Together with Raw Wine’s founder Isabelle Legeron, they talked loosely around today’s theme, based around the six wines offered by the producers. The focus was on local grape varieties. Why do they matter? What happen to the grape varieties when the climate changes? Should we climb higher, pick earlier, or do we need to replace the variety with another?

We got to taste Jorge Vega’s Extinto made by the nearly extinct panycarne variety. We experienced verdejos in a white version made from centennial vineyards by Ismael Gozalo – and as a skin-contact orange wine from Malaparte. There was a delicate light-extraction rufete from Vinos al Margen and a fresh, fruity tinta de toro from Bodegas Bigastro, obviously a Toro wine, but not as much marked by its 16° alcohol as one could expect. Alfredo Maestro brought a wonderful tempranillo-based blend; one part tempranillo and the rest a veritable “de toda la vida” blend. [These wine descriptions will be updated.]

Castilla y León is a huge region with all the wine styles that one can imagine. I never get tired of it, and there is always something new to discover.

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Wine of the Week

Águila of La Aguilera

Dominio del Águila, in the village La Aguilera, was founded in 2010 by Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero. Here, in the Burgos part of Ribera del Duero, they cultivate 30 hectares of vineyards, all organically.

Pícaro del Águila is made with vines between 35-60 years old, on sandy-clay soil, 900 metres above sea level in a north-facing vineyard. The main variety here is tempranillo with some albillo, bobal and garnacha. These varieties are co-fermented whole bunches in concrete lagares and aged in French oak. This is a nod to the past; a wine made with a blend, with a good balance between the fruit and wood and a vibrant acidity.

Pícaro del Águila 2020 (Dominio del Águila)

Ruby red. Expressive aroma of dark and red berries (blackberry, cherry), autumn leaves and spices. It’s in a way powerful, but the tannins are soft and rounded,, there are ripe fruits, and a fresh lingering acidity.

Price: Medium

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Wine of the Week

Torremilanos for the future

Torremilanos of Ribera del Duero is a traditional bodega that is currently taking interesting steps into the future. I have during the last months re-tasted several of their wines, and I also visited their hotel and wine shop during my last trip to the area.

The winegrowing tradition of Finca Torremilanos, or officially: Bodegas Peñalba López, dates back to 1903. It was in 1975 that Pablo Peñalba López acquired the estate and the brand. This was seven years before Ribera del Duero was even recognized as an appellation. He immediately began producing estate-bottled wines, moving away from the former practice of selling bulk grapes to the local cooperative.

By the early 2000’s, the eldest son, Ricardo, had become responsible for the wines. He began investigating organic and biodynamic farming methods, including horse-plowing, hand picking, and native-yeast fermentation. Since 1988 they have even produced their own barrels of French and American oak at their in-house cooperage.

Hotel Torremilanos, now a part of the bodega

Finca Torremilanos currently has 195 hectares of vineyards, surrounding the winery by the national road 122, outside Aranda de Duero. The site is varied in terms of land composition, orientation, altitude and microclimate. The vineyards are all located on the southern margin of the Duero river at an altitude of 800 to 900 meters. The vines grow in a range of soils -sand, rounded river stones, clay, limestone- and the parcels experience a number of different sun exposures. At Finca Torremilanos they practice dry farming cultivating the vineyards without herbicides or insecticides following the criteria of biodynamic agriculture. In 2015 they became the first producer in the appellation to be Demeter certified.

The Montecastrillo is made from mainly tempranillo and some 3% cabernet sauvignon. It was macerated between 5 to 7 days and fermented at 19-24° in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts. After malolactic fermentation in steel the final coupage was carried out. Aging for 6 months in French and American oak barrels from their own cooperage (20% first and second use barrels). Lightly filtered.

Montecastrillo 2020 (Bod. Peñalba López)

Dark cherry red. Aroma of red and dark fruits (blackberry, cherry), over a layer of spice (cinnamon). Fruity in the mouth, with an earthy tone, good tannins and a fine acidity.

Price: Medium

Food: Suckling pig and other roasts, casseroles, tapas and charcuterie

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