Newbies
We're struggling to get a few things at the moment and apologies if your favourite has gone out of of stock. We're also struggling with the urge to take on new wines but this is probably no bad thing as everyone wants something new, don't they?!
Amongst the new arrivals are a bunch of wines from Spain and Portugal and Tenerife.
Txakoli comes from Basque Spain, on the Atlantic coast and like those other Atlantic influenced wines, Muscadet and Vino Verde, is as natural a partner to fried fish as a squeeze of lemon. Gaintza Txakolina is made by the fourth generation of a family who have gone from making wine to drink at home to farming 25 hectares of vines. Fresh and zingy with citrus, green apple and touch of natural spritz. Traditionally poured from some height into small glasses. Get practicing!
Envínate (aka wine-yourself) is the brainchild of Laura Ramos, Jose Martínez, Roberto Santana and Alfonso Torrente, four friends who met while studying oenology at the University of Miguel Hernández in Alicante. They are focused on exploring the ancient, Atlantic-infused terruños of Ribeira Sacra, Canary Islands, Extremadura and Almansa. We've just had delivery of two of their wines from Tenerife, grown on volcanic soils on the northeastern side of the island, Táganan Tinto and Blanco. The vines are untrained and a huge mix of grape varieties, which are all vinified separately and treated individually. The resulting wines are incredibly expressive, pure and wonderfully juicy and drinkable.
Pedro Marques is the fifth-generation in a winemaking family, based in Torres Vedras, just north of Lisbon. Inspired by the wines of central France and captivated by their balance, subtlety and minerality he aims to recreate this with Fossil Tinto and Branco, the wines he makes at Vale de Capucha. The vineyards are bathed by Atlantic breezes which tempers the humid heat of the region and he uses just local grape varieties well suited to the climate and soils.
Luis Pérez, a professor of oenology and his son Willy come from a long line of sherry expertise and they've taken this knowledge and now produce unfortified wines as well as classic sherries. With a strong heritage in Cadiz they chose to name El Muelle de Olaso after the old pier in Sanlucar. 20% of the Palomino grapes that go into this wine are sun dried for 6 to 8 hours before being fermented in seasoned American oak barrels for texture and complexity, while the other 80% are fermented cool in stainless steel and kept on the lees for 6 months.
The result is a complex, crisp and mineral rich wine with hints of fino, savoury flavors and a belter of a big wine. Great with salty fish.
While we've had our wings trimmed in terms of physical travel, we're travelling virtually like never before, looking for delicious wines from growers that share a few things in common:
- Love and respect for the planet.
- A desire to make wines which are fixed in a particular time and place, a vintage and a vineyard.
- And who make wines that while they're sometimes a little unexpected, are always, always delicious to drink