Thanks again to everyone that attended the Piedmont tasting and Friday Flights last week! Both were well attended and it was great so see so many of you and meet some new people.
The 2023 Buckman Pinot is being bottled this week and will be in the shop before Thanksgiving. Let me know if you want to reserve some and I’ll put your name on it.
We will have Purple Hands in the shop tomorrow the 13th from 5 – 7 with 5 tastes for only $10/waived with a purchase of a bottle. For more information on the winery go here.
I will be open Monday for the week of Thanksgiving 11 – 7 and closed Thanksgiving day and Black Friday. My friend, Brian Martin, will be in the store the day before Thanksgiving pouring 6 wines from his book that will be perfect pairings for anything on the table.
I start thinking about sunlight this time of year when it’s dark at 5:00 and the forecast is indefinite rain. To me the wines of Spain taste like they come from a sunny place so let’s taste a few on Friday.
Spain sits among the world’s most important wine countries, with over one million hectares under vine across 139 wine-producing regions. But while Spanish wine is no longer unfamiliar to the U.S. wine trade and consumers alike, the sheer range of quality wines produced across this Iberian country is often underestimated.
To classify the wines of Spain under a single style or character would be impossible. This is a country of exceptional diversity, with vines planted across a huge range of climates and geographies. Vineyards stretch from the lush and rainy coasts of Green Spain to the extreme and arid plains of the Meseta, from the valleys carved by the Ebro River to the volcanic Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa.
The sheer number of grape varieties also widens the spectrum of Spanish wines. More than 200 grape varieties are grown here, from international favorites to the country’s many local specialties, like Tempranillo, Mencía, Albariño, and Verdejo. While local winemakers carry on the traditions passed down through Spain’s winemaking history, they also look to push their industry forward, experimenting with styles and increasingly focusing on organic viticulture.
The Lineup:
2022 Garciarevalo Rueda, Verdejo $15 Garciarévalo specializes in old-vine verdejo, with minor plantings of viura. While many newcomers to the region planted the trendy sauvignon blanc (which is ill-suited to the climate), Garciarévalo has always protected and exalted their indigenous verdejo variety. Their estate vineyards consist primarily of vines of over 100 years old, including a plot of pre-phylloxera verdejo vines over 130 years old, all planted in the traditional bush-vine system. Fermented in stainless steel to preserve the fruit’s vibrant character, this wine exudes fresh, zesty flavors of citrus and green apple, complemented by subtle herbal notes.
2021 Altos de la Hoya, Monastrell $15 Deep ruby. Ripe, powerful scents of red and dark fruits, minerals and spices. Finishes fresh and long, with a repeating dark fruit note. Almost a century ago, Pascual Olivares Fernandez was convinced that Monastrell – our region’s original variety and incredibly well-adapted to its poor soils and scarce rains – was able to yield distinctive wines that reflected our land’s character.
2023 Vina Zorzal Garnacha Navarra $16 Navarra: an autonomous region whose capital is Pamplona, the vineyards can be found from the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains to the Ebro river in Northern Spain, between Madrid and San Sebastian.
Clean, high intensity aromas of red fruit such us raspberry, strawberry, red cheery, also black pepper and earthy notes.
2022 Pecina Rioja Cosecha Tinto $16 Aged in stainless steel with racking to another tank every 3 months. No oak aging. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Made from grapes from young vines, “La Veguilla” and “Valseca”, which average 25 years in age. The grapes are destemmed and crushed and macerated for 3-4 days before fermentation begins naturally with the wild yeast on the skins.
2023 Guimaro Ribeira Sacra Tinto $24 Cultivated since Roman times, Ribeira Sacra’s steep terraced vineyards are some of the most picturesque and treacherous to work in the world of wine – think of the Douro, Cote Rotie, or the Mosel. Like those most dramatic terruños, winegrowing here is not for the faint of heart; it takes spirited determination, eternal optimism, a sense of tradition, and a willingness to collaborate. Pedro Rodríguez of Adegas Guímaro embodies all of these qualities. From multiple plots of Mencía vines with an average age of 40 years old, located in and around Ribeira Sacra. The un-oaked, regional tinto is all about immediate pleasure with pure, lush red fruits, spices, and slate-laden minerality. A wine to pair with all kinds of foods, especially chorizos, embutidos, roast pork, spicy foods, any dish with a lot of Pimentón.
2023 Anima Mundi Gres Xarel-lo $27 Gres is from vineyards of Xarel-lo planted between 1956 and 1974 in Sant Sebastià dels Gorgs in the Alt Penedès. In the nose the wine is full, ripe with yellow fruits. On the palate a clean, crisp minerality brings joy and pleasure. A thirst quenching and very satisfying glass. Ocean breeze and fun at the beach is filling up the daydreams.
2021 Descendientes de J. Palacios “Pétalos” Bierzo $24 As far back as the Middle Ages, Cistercian Monks arriving from France had identified Bierzo as a special place for wine. They also saw Mencía as the variety best suited to its slate/schist soils. Mencía was so closely identified with their work that the variety itself was long thought to have French origins. t fermented with some full clusters in oak and stainless steel vats and matured in barrels of different sizes for 10 months. It’s clearly more Mediterranean, with notes of rockrose and other aromatic herbs, juicy and round, more fruit-driven, aromatic, velvety and very pleasant and easy to drink.
2019 Lindes de Remelluri Rioja “Vinedos de Labastida” $32 The Lindes de Remelluri wines pay homage to the growers who have long worked for the estate and brought their grapes into Remelluri. Lindes means borders and they are made from vineyards in the surrounding villages of San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida. These grapes, which used to be blended into Remelluri’s main wine, are now allowed to shine in site-specific bottlings. Grapes for this wine are sourced from the vineyards of Labastida. Although vinification is the same, compared to San Vicente, Labastida is at a higher elevation, further from the Ebro River. The resulting wine is light and fragrant, with great acidity and flavour concentration.
VINO HOURS:
Tuesday 11:00 – 7:00 PM
Wednesday 11:00 – 7:00 PM
Thursday 11:00 – 7:00 PM
Friday 11:00 – 8:00 PM
Saturday 11:00 – 7:00 PM
Sunday 1:00 – 7:00 PM
Monday closed
Scott Love
Vino Wine Shop
(503) 816-6224
vinoshoppdx@gmail
