Coast - six wines from vineyards bathed by ocean breezes - a six bottle box set

Coast. Away from the heat and dust of vineyards far inland or the intense light of the mountains, wines made from grapes grown with the cooling touch of the ocean on them have a freshness and balance and often that hint of salinity. 

This box set contains one bottle of each of the following wines - 

White Wines

Bodegas Luis Pérez, El Muelle de Olaso, Andalusia, Spain - 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 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.

Rallo, Bianco Maggiore, Sicilia, Italy - Cantine Rallo is a long established producer based in Marsala, Western Sicily. Whilst their origins lie in producing the unique Marsala wine and they still make outstanding traditional dry Marsala, their business now is mainly in table wines. The Vesco family owned vineyards in the hills above Alcamo, a prime area for producing grapes for table wines thanks to the cooler conditions but had no winery. Rallo had a winery but only vineyards near the coast growing grapes for Marsala, a shrinking market. Put the two together and result. One of Sicily’s leading producers. This wine is made from Grillo, grown right on the coast. Bright and fresh it is ideal as an aperitif, with young cheeses (amazing with spanking fresh Ricotta) and fish.

Valdibella, Munir, Sicily, Italy - If we're slightly obsessed with Sicily, you'll have to forgive us. This latest arrival from the very wonderful Valdibella cooperative is only feeding our obsession. Valdibella is a group of 10 growers who have set up this Co operative project, they are all organic farmers at the very least but the purpose of the Co Op is to push all members towards biodiverse and regenerative agriculture. While the Valdibella coop's main focus is on wine they embrace polyculture, partly to enhance biodiversity in their environment, and produce food - pasta, flour, almonds, oil and vegetables- with produce from their members. The grapes are harvested by hand and collected in small baskets before being transported to the winery, there they are de stemmed and crushed and the decanted must (grape juice) added to the previous days must so a natural fermentation can occur with native yeasts, fermentation takes about 20 days and then the wine is aged in stainless steel for the Winter before being bottled in the Spring. This wine is young and has a lightness that allows the Catarratto to really shine, subtle wild flower and citrus  with a long finish. Great with olives, salty fish and salads.

Rosé Wines

Produttori di Manduria, ‘aka’ Primitivo Rosato, Puglia, Italy - Produttori di Manduria is a cooperative winery founded in 1932 but while it is historic it also very forward thinking, a shining light of how coops can be run for the benefit of everyone - its members, its customers and in this case the planet, farming beyond organic and using sustainable processes throughout the vineyards and winery. 

Red Wines

Coto de Gomariz, The Flower and the Bee, Ribeiro, Galicia, Spain -
Ricardo Carreiro and winemaker, Xose Lois Sebio, are producing wines from little known Galician varietals bringing them to a wider audience, and here we have Sousón, a red grape in an area better known for whites. Grown in a little microclimate next to the Avia river, at the eastern edge of Galicia just over the border from Portugal, the Atlantic influence is tempered by the surrounding hills enabling grapes to ripen completely. The vineyard follows the Masanoba Fukuoka method of farming which is affectionately known as ‘do nothing farming’ but which actually probably means do lots, but do it right without resort to synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. A juicy fruit forward wine with bags of character it’s beautiful with quite spicy food and amazingly good with octopus.

Alberto Loi, Cannonau de Sardegna, ‘Sa Mola’, Sardinia, Italy - Sardinia claims to be the original home of Garnacha (aka Grenache) where it is known as Cannonau and produces a rather more structured and perhaps serious, savoury style of wine, crying out for some salty, mature cheese or full-on salami. This one’s grown by the fourth generation of the Loi family on their vineyards around Cardedu in the hills of central Sardinia but just a few minutes from the coast. The proximity of the sea makes a real difference to the vineyards, tempering the heat of summer and promoting air flow through the vineyards. Aged in older oak, this wine has great spice from the fruit, developed tannin, intense, complex and floral. Drink now or keep happily for a couple of years. 

This case contains one bottle of each of these wines. If any is out of stock or becomes unavailable it will be replaced by one of equal or greater value and deliciousness.