Grapes: Monastrell (Mourvèdre), Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah

93/100 Wine Spectator

“Bright cherry, berry and currant flavours mingle with liquorice, black tea and mineral notes, giving way to a floral and minerally finish. The firm tannins are well-integrated and juicy acidity keeps this lively.” 

Tasting Note: Intense cherry-red colour with violet shades. Delicate black fruit aroma with high roast and smoky features. Structured, subtle and smart palate, ripe appetising and a sweet tannins marked by elegance.

Winemaking Notes: This wine is the result of a rigorous selection process, choosing only the best grapes from the Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon variety. The grapes were harvested in the third week of October at their optimum ripening point in 15 kg boxes. The selected fruit was chosen by the same wise hands that did it the previous year. The grapes corresponding to each variety were macerated in contact with the skin and fermented for 20/30 days at a controlled temperature of 28oC. It has spent 12 months in new french and american oak barrels.

Bodega Muga was founded in 1932 and remains in family hands today with 250 hectares in La Rioja Alta and long standing contracts with owners of another 150 hectares of vineyards spread among five main vineyards on clay and limestone soils with a wide variety of microclimates. 

The Muga wines are exciting and interesting Spanish blends of indigenous grapes with Tempranillo in the lead, supported by Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano for the reds. 

If you’re a fan of Spanish wine, try this gorgeous next level reserve out for size. 

Priorat is one of Spain's most esteemed regions for red wine, alongside Rioja & Ribera del Duero, and the most famous region for Grenache in Spain. The Llicorella slate and huge diurnal shifts contribute to powerful and ageable wines!

Made from Carinena & Garnacha fermented on skins for 11-12 days in stainless steel tanks at 24 degrees celcius. 70% was aged in French oak Barriques (20% new), & 30% in 30 hectolitre French oak foudres. 

Salmos is the spanish name for Psalms & is a tribute to the Carthusian Monks who first planted vines in Priorat.

The Wine:

50% Monastrell, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Garnacha Tintorera, 10% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, 10% Syrah

Hand harvested, destemmed, natural yeast fermentation in stainless steel tanks. 

8 months in 250-500L French oak barrels and 5000L French oak foudres

About the Producer:

Celler del Roure is nothing short of the pioneer of quality wine in the DO Valencia. Until recently, Valencia was only known for its cheap bulk wines, but it is now blossoming into one of Spain most interesting wine regions. Thanks to the estate, which rehabilitated long-forgotten local grapes like the red Mando and the white Verdil, and also rediscovered the use of amphoras.

Pablo Calatayud is like the exception that proves the rule. He has no family roots in wine. He is a newcomer in the profession, which is not really a bad thing in a region like Valencia, where it is better not to follow the « tradition » of high yields, low prices and bad quality. He was lucky enough not to be influenced by all this and to start with a sound basis. His family is active in the local furniture business but supports his project wholeheartedly. Since a few years, his wife Sandra has also been working on the estate. The vineyard is located in Clariano, Valencia’s hinterland, a region with an enormous wine potential. Pablo’s wine story began in 1995-1996, just after he finished his agronomy and oenology studies. Then, with the help of his father and brother, he decided to buy an estate in the highlands and plant it with vines. French grapes, but also old local varieties, which bear witness to the Valencian wine history (even if most of them are long forgotten). In 2000, Pablo produced the first vintage of his Alcusses (the name is a reference to an Iberian settlement dating 4 centuries BC). On the labels of the wines and in the boxes, we'll find the text of a small tin plaque dating from these times, found on the estate. It is written in paleo-hispanic. This is a way for Pablo to pay his dues to the culture of this beautiful region. Pablo’s ambition re-dynamised the whole region. Several other estates followed his example and started producing quality wines, in accordance with their terroirs and tradition. Pablo’s most important decision was the purchase of an old bodega on the mountainside. There they found a real treasure: nearly 100 dug-in amphoras in an almost perfect state of conservation. This is something really unique, all the more so as these amphoras are nearly 500 years old ! Pablo is experimenting with making white and red wines in them, and the results are encouraging. This estate’s future looks bright and the birth of Pablo’s first daughter, Carla, on March 8th 2011, only confirmed it.

Terroir:

Vineyards are divided between four fincas, on the northern flank of the Serra Grossa (“l’Ombria”) and in the Alforins-Alcusses vale. The average altitude is 550 m. Most soils are very poor in organic matter - mostly sands, clay and limestone. The area is in a transition climate – this is what is called the pre-meseta, a link between the high plateau of Castilla La Mancha and the Costera valleys (Vall d’Albaida and Rio Cànyoles). The mountain ranges guide the wind coming from the interior (El Poniente) to the vineyard; the area also takes advantage of the humid breezes coming from the Mediterranean (El Levante), which gives the region some 600 mm of rainfall.

Bodega Terras Gauda overlooks the gentle green countryside of Galicia in north west Spain where its vineyards are planted. Terras Gauda uses its own yeasts, selected from its vineyards. These yeasts are unique to the winery and have been patented. This is one of the reasons the TG wines are so consistent because they don’t need to rely on commercial yeasts.

Chill this wine to 12 degrees and break out your best seafood, recommends wine importer Sophie Cotter, who brings this wine into New Zealand. 

Albarino is on trend globally right now and originally comes from north west Spain and the north of Portugal, where makes its fresh, zesty, dry as a bone and super flavoursome taste go particularly well with seafood. This wine comes from Terras Gauda Winery on the Spanish side of the Minho River, which separates Portugal from Spain.This region and its Portuguese counterpart over the border is the original home for the Albarino grape, known in Portugal as Alvarinho.

100% Bobal from DO Manchuela near Cuenca. 

Bodegas Ponce has been at the forefront of modern Spanish wine since their inception in 2005. 

Juan Antonio Ponce's dream was to make wines with the old vineyards of his native Manchuela. He attended viticulture and enology school when he was 14 years old, and after five years of working with Telmo Rodriguez after his graduation he started his own winery Bodegas Ponce when he was 23 years old. Inspired by his years with Telmo and the growing minimal intervention movement in France. He approached his native varietal Bobal in a way unlike that of neighbors. Farming sustainably, with organic and biodynamic principles and harvesting the grapes weeks before his neighbors. In the winery he works simply and cleanly, whole bunch fermentation, native yeast fermentation and aging in old wood vats. His wines are more like those from Beaujolais and the Loire Valley than Rioja and Priorat. What is fascinating is that Manchuela is a region where the locals joke that there are nine months of winter and three months of hell, which sounds nothing like the bucolic hills of Beaujolais nor France’s garden, the Loire valley. The P.F. stands for Pie Franco. The vineyards for this wine range in age from 40 to 90 years old and they are all ungrafted. Juan Antonio’s wines are some of the most elegant wines being made in Spain.

Graciano is one of Spain’s best kept wine secrets - a red grape with thick skins that is a tricky customer to grow, which means there’s precious little of it about, even in the vineyards of the Rioja, where it is one of the traditional ingredients in the wine of the same name.

This is a dark Spanish beauty with soft fruit flavours, medium body and fresh, long finish.

Vallformosa, is a family owned operation that has been around for 150 years. 

Appearance: Pale yellow with greenish reflections in the glass

On the Nose: Good aromatic intensity of fruity aromas, including green apple and fresh herbs like fennel welcome the nose. These fruiter elements also combine with notes of white flowers and citrus in the bouquet to offer complexity.

On the Palate: Vallformosa Cava is a bright sparkling wine with fine persistent bubbles. The palate is balanced and dry while soft, resulting in well balanced acidity and a fruity aftertaste.

About Cava...

Cava is one of the great sparkling wine secrets of the world and you could call it poor man's champagne because it's made the same way, only with slightly shorter aging time and therefore a little less complexity on the palate. Still, given that it costs a fraction of the price and has had its secondary fermentation in the same bottle that you buy it in, this really is superb value for money.

It can be made with grapes grown anywhere in Spain. These days, producers are allowed to use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to make cava but this one is from the traditional Spanish grapes, namely, Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada, each of which combines to create a fruity but dry and lightly yeasty fresh taste. A stunner at the price and an extremely fresh, refreshing dry bubbly. Awesome value for money.

Maravedi is the name of an ancient Spanish coin and this wine is an excellent blend of Chardonnay and Airen (an indigenous Spanish white grape). The flavours are smooth and creamy with Chardonnay strutting its flavoursome, approachable taste in every mouthful. It is made from dry farmed, organically certified vineyards in the La Mancha region of Spain, south of Madrid, which is Spain's largest wine region.

 José Luis Ripa is a fan of more 'serious' rosés (think Pibarnon, Trevallon, Tempier and the poster child of extended ageing Viña Tondonia).  His day job is commercial director at a well known winery in Haro, but in 2016 he managed to get hold of some old-vine fruit from the Najerilla Valley, a tributary of the Ebro, and made his first vintage of Ripa Rosado. The wine is mainly Garnacha with a touch of Tempranillo, the must is drawn-off slowly, then fermented and aged for 18-24 months in large oak vats, called bocoyes in Rioja. He only made 3,000 bottles in the first year, he's gradually increasing that, without losing the artisan vision of the project. After all, he has his wife María José López de Heredia to keep him focused!

A little deeper and probably more lactic than the 2019, but a little less exuberant. There are more dried herbs and minerals, with dried grapefruit and a touch of Aperol. Unique in style, which makes you think of a young Lopez de Heredia rosado (and you wouldn't be surprised if you find who makes this). Textured, full and harmonious despite higher alcohol. Cheerful and unassuming at the same time.

-James Suckling

Calatayud, a small appellation in the heart of Arag6n, Spain. A hidden valley and home to the red garnacha grape. A valley where the working conditions are difficult for the farmers. Rough slate soils, old bush vines planted on steep slopes up to 1,100m, hot summers and cold winters where rainfall is scarce and the wind is
always blowing. Furthermore, they have to deal with a fragmented landscape of small parcels and rarely have a successor for their years of hard labour. It's tough and challenging, and yet, they understand the value of their soil and grapes, each plot providing a distinct character to the grape compared to its neighbour. Las Pizarras (the slate soils) is our range showcasing the diversity of the region. Named after the town or plot the grapes originate from, each wine in the collection expresses its unique character, but all are born out of soil, nature and the right human touch.

FABLA is a language used in several places in the north of the autonomic
community of Aragén for over 1.000 years. Today is used by just 12.000 people.

Harvest: End of September, beginning of October
Clasification: Calatayud DO
Grape varieties: 80% Garnacha 20% Syrah
Vinification: Direct incubation and fermentation for 15 days at no more than
16 degrees Celsius to preserve all the fresh fruit of the Garnacha.
Ageing: 30% of the Garnacha is aged 3 months in barrel

TASTING NOTES
Intense cherry red colour. Typical Garnacha with aromas of ripe red fruit,
prunes, figs and some black pepper and minerality.

The pairing suggestion - lamb stew, carrots, courgettes and a couple of black olives