I have been very fortunate to spend this week in Fontainebleau, teaching again my course on Power. It is wonderful to be back on the road, in spite of the uncertainties and obstacles of the pandemic. Some friends who indulge in eccentric tastes and follow this blog have insisted that before Christmas I should suggest some wines for the season. Today I was able to find a bit of time between classes and here is my list:
Valenciso blanco is the best white I have tasted in 2021. It is made with Viura grapes and a bit of white Garnache by two of my favorite vignerons, Luis Valentín and Carmen Enciso, from Bodegas Valenciso in Rioja Alta. Everything they do is outstanding, but this limited edition of a very different white has seduced me. It has a smooth, velvety taste and a long finish (18,50 euros).
Yotuel Selección 2016 is a recent discovery I made in Angelita, the Madrid restaurant where I always find wine treasures. This red from Ribera is incredibly well priced (17 euros). The name does not anticipate how much dignified grace and hidden beauty it has. It is a creature of Bienvenido Gallego Zapatero, from Anguix, Burgos, not far away from the Douro river.
I drank for the first time Alprendre 2020 in Alabaster, the restaurant in town with the most amazing selection of Galician wines. Alpendre means “country shack” and reflects well the spirit of the Ribera Sacra, unpretentious, hard-working and totally in love with their corner of paradise. This red is made by the Ronsel do Sil winery with merenzao grapes, somewhat similar to the trousseau variety in Borgogne. It reminds you of a very complex pinot noir and the price (28 euros) reflects its amazing quality. When I tried, I noticed a hint of gooseberries, but perhaps I did because I love the short-story with that title by Anton Chekhov, a favorite Aspen Institute reading.
Pegaso Arrebatacapas 2020 was introduced to me by Telmo Rodríguez himself at a friend’s dinner. Telmo is a hero for wine lovers and he never fails to surprise us. He and his teammates have created extraordinary wines all over Spain, reconnecting wine and roots, with an amazing capacity to innovate by reformulating the best traditions. The Pegaso project started when they decided to recuperate an old vineyard of Granacha grapes that had not been properly cared for in the stunning slate hills of the Gredos mountain range, near Cebreros. Since 2015 they have bottled Arrebatacapas, a red wine for a very special occasion like Christmas. It sells at 54 euros.
Last but not least, I would like to recommend Guímaro Camiño Real 2019 (16,90 euros). This is a red wine made with Mencia and other local grapes in the Ribera Sacra by the family winery of Pedro Rodriguez Pérez. When you taste it, so fruity and mineral, you can close your eyes and go back to sailing in the Sil River, protected by the mountains and the quasi-vertical vineyards. María my wife likes it and therefore I consider it a Stratocaster wine, a category I invented to describe her favorite wines (always related to music, but that is another story, https://iberians.blog/2010/09/24/stratocaster-wines)
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