Only Red Wines

This wine comes from our vineyards over 60 years that starts a clear way the potential quality and equilibrium necessary for the production of a wine with character. Harvest in boxes in late October with a choice of grapes in the winery entrance. Long and peculiar elaboration with phases of cold macerating pre-fermentation and short fermentation at low temperatures. Following this stage the wine malolactic fermentation takes in new barrel 100% French oak new aging it for 6 months.

Tasting Notes

Wine temperature was approximately 16 ° C. Glass Tempranillo type.

Color and nuance: Colour cherry red high layer and violet edges.

Nose: Good nose with red and black fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants very well taken by an accompaniment to creamy and light barrel toast, a spiced and some licorice.

Flavor of the wine: on the palate very yummy, fruity, round tannins, good acidity and light touches of vanilla, smoke and roasted ..

Overall impression: very fresh wine, balanced, with all the characteristics of a wine Bobal, but with adequate soft tannin to accompany meals with high protein content.

Presentation : Bottle of 75 cl. burgundy type, artistic label.

About the Cellar:

Bodega Sierra Norte

Polígono Industrial El Romeral

C/Del Transporte C2

C.P. 46340 Requena – Valencia (SPAIN) 

 

Tel: +34 96 2323099

info@bodegasierranorte.com

http://www.bodegasierranorte.com

One of the small wineries that have Requena in his term, large wine bottles, is Finca Ardal. This winery nineteenth century who founded one of the ancestors of the present family Gil-Orozco, who from 1996 took over this project to produce wines of quality, using the vineyard and the situation surrounding the winery.

The new winery is currently located in the old building where wines were produced double paste today has attached a new area where wines are made in stainless steel tanks, using technology for the development and preservation of wine, there is also a barrel cellar in the basement of the house where the wine rests between 6 and 14 months to produce these quality wines then I will comment.

The vineyard is composed of traditional plants Bobal and Tempranillo, dating from 80 and 40 years to which were added more recently planted plants like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz. Each variety has its cycle and its collection and are vinified separately to seek the highest expression of them and then assemble for wines that the winery produces. The Bobal single variety has its own production and also this winery is inside Primum Bobal Association, which brings together seven wineries that are committed this type of grape as a quality product and unique in the world. 

After the tour we tasted the wines of the cellar, starting with a 'coupage' of little aging (6 months) of Tempranillo, Syrah and Bobal, a wine with a ruby red with a brilliant tone, on the nose predominated red fruit, some mineral character and very elegant spiced undertones. In the mouth fresh and voluminous, with a short but very intense aftertaste, a fairly young wine, named of a 2006 harvest TANUS name. This name evokes certain vestiges of Roman empire was found on the farm and texts written in stone have his name taken. 

Also tasted another 'coupage' in this case of Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo and Merlot, named Ocho Cuerdas 2006 vintage, this wine's name is in memory of 8-string guitar, the founder of the winery invented in his facet as artist, this is a little more evolved because their passage through French barrels more than 12 months, but it the color is ruby with orange border more, glyceric and upper middle layer. The nose is more complex, finding spices like cinnamon, cloves, leaves of snuff, leather and candied black fruit. The palate still has a remarkable tannin but also friendly, long aftertaste with great memories to high roast and smoked. 

Another wine that we tasted at the winery, but I personally if I've done it several times, is the single variety Ocho Cuerdas Bobal, of dark purple, intense, high cape. Clear and brilliant. A complex aroma of ripe red fruit on a background spiced (ground pepper). Well integrated with good quality wood . Enters the mouth smoothly with a long aftertaste. This wine is round and balanced, fleshy, with sweet tannins and good polished.

A very charming small winery that makes wines of great quality and good price / quality ratio. 

 

Marqués de Cáceres Gran Reserva 2001 wines are produced from vintages as 'excellent' or 'very good'. Depending on the vintage, these fine wines are aged in premium quality oak barrels from central France for 26-28 months, followed by as much as 4 years in bottle. Gran Reservas are, therefore, vinified in such away that their fruit and freshness acquire a unique complexity through ageing.

85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano & Grenache

The weather conditions, in 2001 vintage, was mild and humid during the autum and winter season until the vines budded in the spring when temperatures were cool with no incidence of frost. Summer began with unusually high temperatures and was rather dry specially during the months of August and September. Some light rain during the last fortnight in September favoured the maturation of the grapes. The harvest took place between 8th and 27th October in very favourable weather conditions allowing us to pick very fine and healthy grapes as these reached perfect maturity.

Taste notes:

 

Intense, dark cherry-red colour. Complex bouquet that reveals a splendid balance of mature fruit and delicate touch of spice (vanilla, refined leather) from the french oak. Powerful in the mouth with sensations of fleshy, cristallised fruit that highlight a pleasant fullness in which the slightly toasted notes from the wood are perfectly integrated. A very elegant wine that promises to develop splendily in bottle.

An ideal wine to accompany game dishes in sauce or ragout, lamb or beef with spices (roast, stewed or grilled), and mature or blue cheese.

Serve between 16º-18º C.

The vegetative cycle and maturation took place slowly, allowing us to perform a slow and selective harvest collecting extremely high quality grapes, thanks also to very moderate yields. Manual harvesting was carried out, plot by plot, collecting grapes based on the maturity of each vine, thereby ensuring that most of the grapes entered the winery at their optimum point of maturity, with excellent health and a good balance between acidity and polyphenols, ideal characteristics for must with a strong aromatic expression.

Composition and origin: Tempranillo with a small percentage of Mazuelo (5 %), from our vineyards located in Altos Vallecilla, Calvo and Camino de la Iglesia plots, beside the winery.

Production and ageing: The grapes were collected in boxes and taken to the winery on refrigerated platforms where they remained until they reached 4°C. They were, then, destemmed, crushed and poured into stainless steel tanks where they remained for about 3 days at under 12°C, to achieve cold maceration and primary fermentation bolstering their characteristics. Alcoholic fermentation occurred over 15 days at a set temperature of 27 °C. 51% of the coupage of this wine underwent malolactic fermentation in new French and American oak barrels, with weekly battonage for the duration of the process (46 days). The rest of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks for 34 days, with the movement of lees every 15 days.

The wine underwent 21 months of ageing in barrels made of French oak (68.8%), Caucasian oak (20.8%) with the rest made of American oak. During this period it was decanted three times using the traditional method from barrel to barrel, with the final coupage in February 2010.

Barón d’Alba Wineries and Vineyards opened for business by planting 15 hectares of vineyards of Macabeo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha, Merlot, Monastrell, Syrah and Tempranillo, with the idea of obtaining from them the highest expression of quality and not of quantity. As they were familiar with the exceptional quality of Les Useres area grapes, they decided to build a winery in their own vineyard. This was an idyllic spot called CLOS D’ ESGARRACORDES from which you can see an extraordinary outlook of vineyards and a wide area of the region. 

For this project we joined a group of professionals, who were involved in obtaining the best quality for our wines, sparing no effort and make sure that the whole process, involved in getting a great wine from the vineyard to the consumer, was achieved.

This is an exceptional vineyard of 15 hectares, located in L’Alcalaten which is the lowest part of the Les Useres district. It lies at an altitude of 200 meters and enjoys a suitable microclimate for the production of high quality wines. The vineyard is planted by the street system, on trellis with a double Royat cordon. We use a planting density of 2600 vines per hectare and with a per plant production limited to a maximum of 1.5 to 1.75 kg per vine, depending on variety, making a closely monitoring of the growth cycle of the vine in order to obtain a high quality fruit.

The ground is loamy with clay, as well as both sandy and rocky, with high calcium content. Therefore, we have a vineyard with the two main features associated with the quality of the renowned wine regions: stony and limestone lands.

From the standpoint of climate, this area is located a few kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea, but has a moderate influence, thereof to be protected by the mountains that divide it. Rainfall is approximately 450 litres per year, vineyard orientation, hours of sun and humidity are ideal for obtaining the best quality. This combination of factors which is difficult to find, explains the proven quality, harvest to harvest, of wines from our harvest.

The exterior of the winery is a fine stone building, that gives it personality. Unique for its murals with pictorial representations dedicated to the vintage. It is beautiful, as well as having stucco walls throughout the interior of the winery. It is equipped with processing deposits with up to 10,000 litres capacity each, equivalent to 8,200 kilograms of grapes. All are equipped with modern cooling system to control the fermentation temperatures, allowing us to heat or cool warehouses in a much shorter time and to exercise a perfect control over the fermentation.

The warehouse is composed of:
- 1 tank of 15,000 liters.
- 3 fermentation tanks of 10,000 litres of stainless steel.
- 3 fermentation tanks of 5,000 litres.
- 4 fermentation tanks of 3,000 litres.
- 1 cask of 6,000 litres oak.
Besides, there we can find devatting and peak tanks with a capacity of 72,000 litres.

The barrel room is excavated below ground and it is equipped with an air conditioning system that allows not only ventilating the warehouse, but also allows controlling the temperature and moisture at desired levels.
The arches that support the barrel room together with careful lighting create a unique atmosphere, where lie French oak barrels for aging wine.

It is equipped with the same air-conditioning as the barrel room. It has a capacity of 70 crates of bottles. In this warehouse the wine completes his ripening process fully before its release.

Fermentation takes place at a controlled temperature and long maceration, applying cutting-edge winemaking techniques.The malolactic fermentation takes place in oak tubs, prior to its aging in French and American oak barrels.The barrel ageing room it is perfect for ventilation, humidity and temperature, where the wine remains in barrels until its optimal stage of ripening, being not less than 14 months.

Once the blending of our wines is fulfilled, it is bottled, where it will continue with its ripening in a bottle for a minimum of eight months. This is in order to guarantee the consumer a wine in which we have placed the utmost care, at all stages, in order to obtain a wine of great quality.

Bodegas y Viñedos Barón d'Alba S.L.
Clos d'Esgarracordes, partida Vilar la Call 10
12118 Les Useres (Castellón) España

+ 34 964 767 306 - +34 608 032 884 - info@barondalba.com

In 1876, Mrs Filomena Pons y Pons, paternal great-grandmother of the Martínez Roda family, founded a wine and spirit making company in the Grao de Valencia region. Very soon afterwards, she began to export wines, a tradition which was to be kept by the generations to come. However, one of her grandsons, Francisco Martínez Bermell, who had been managing the winemaking of the company in the Utiel - Requena region since the 1940s, decided to break away and start his own company in Requena. He began to introduce new varietals such as tempranillo, which had never been grown in the area before, and in very close association with Pascual Carrion Carrion, then manager of the Requena Winemaking Station, started adopting new winemaking techniques which would substantially improve the quality of the wines of the region.

 

  
The CASA DON ANGEL estate comprises of the main house,winery, garden and agricultural land. It is situated in the borough of Utiel, at "La Cabezuela", which lies 2.5km west of the estate. To the east, it forms a border with the Rambla de Estenas (watercourse) which in turn is the natural border of the borough of Requena.

This family owned concern trades as a limited company, the Martínez Roda family being sole owners.At present the estate houses an elegant Art Nouveau mansion built in 1919, following the guidelines of the era, as well as the original cellar, since upgraded and streamlined. Adjoining this, the new cellar, ageing plant, bottling plants and museum are found.

With the exception of a couple of almond trees lining its pathways, the estate is dedicated entirely to the growing of vines. These range from over a hundred year old Bobal vines to the recently planted ones.

The vineyards are situated on a gentle slope stretching from the Sierra de Juan Navarro to the Vega del Magro (plains) very near the Rambla de Estenas (watercourse). Here we find a very sunny calcareous glacis where erosion has designed an undulating landscape of valleys and hills. The floors of the valleys are very rich and produce exceptional grape harvests. However, on the hills a calcareous crust with a stony surface predominates. Here the soil is poorer but very suitable for obtaining quality wines. This is something which has not gone unnoticed by Felix Martínez, who plants his most prized cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo, merlot and chardonnay vines here. Even with the help of localised irrigation, Felix does not allow the yield to exceed 3kg per vine.”

Due to its high altitude and continental position, this area is prone to more extreme temperatures then the rest of the Community of Valencia. The average temperature being 14ºC in Requena and 12ºC in Utiel, January being the coldest month, averaging 5ºC and August the hottest, averaging 24ºC. A very significant factor is the marked difference between day and night temperatures which can reach a 20 degree difference. The frequency of extreme temperatures must also be taken into account, these can drop to a freezimg 5 - 10 degrees below zero in winter and rise to a scorching 35 - 40 degrees in summer.

Bodegas Chozas Carrascal has been cleared to enter Spain's emergent Vino de Pago system, ending a five-year wait. 

Valencia-based Chozas Carrascal became officially moved up from the DO Utiel Requena classification to Vino de Pago (VP) at the end of last month.

It is the 13th Spanish winery to reach VP. Membership criteria includes wines made only from the grapes grown on the estate, and those which have won themselves an international reputation for quality.

Founded in the early 1990s by Julián López, Chozas Carrascal has 40 hectares of vines and its wines sell well in the US.

The new classification means it can use VP on its flagship wine, El Cabernetf, made from Cabernet Franc grapes. This wine previously fell outside of the DO Utiel Requena rules.

Alongside international varieties, the estate is doing a lot of work on Bobal, possibly the ‘comeback king’ amongst  Valencia’s native grapes. It also makes sparkling wine under the Denominación Cava.

Spain introduced the ‘Pago’ class with its 2003 national wine law, but regional governments must ratify the classification before wineries can use it. So far, only Castilla-La Mancha, Navarra and Valencia have done so.

Wines from cellar

List of retail prices of Valencia (VAT and postage included).

Minimum order 6 bottles, can be varied.

Phone: +34 629 87 60 82 / jpv1970@gmail.com

7,50 EUROS

7,50 EUROS

 Type of wines:: RED OAK 2008

Varieties: Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet Sauvignon

Fermentation: macerating grape skins

Ageing: 6 months American oak barrel. 6 months in bottle.

Intense violet red
Aromas of ripe fruits with notes of vanilla and toast, resulting in tasty mouth, wide and with good structure.

7,50 EUROS 

 

16 EUROS 

 

19 EUROS 

18 EUROS 

 

On Tuesday, day 18 of the present and facing one of the largest seating capacity of the last exercises on the Club de enófilos of Valencia, La Bodega de Alboloduy of Almeria, within the appelation of Ribera del Andarax, presented their wines in Valencia.

Following the presentation of the winery and its surroundings by its owner, D. Francisco Calvache , we went to taste varieties almost, almost extinct today and southeastern native Spanish as the Jaén Blanca. In this variety we tasted the 2010 vintage and the 2011 premiere, still bottled but not especially different.

Also tasted the wine premiere rosé, flower harvest of a grape wine syrah, then surprised us in the working aged 2005 and 2007 with 12 and 18 months aging in oak barrels. A well structured syrah, without edges still very much alive, ripe red fruit, oral explosion and the 2005 vintage smoothness of edges in 2007, still trading, but soon we will have this vintage on the market, Cristina Calvache Collection is his name.

The Collection Cristina Calvache Cabernet Sauvignon  2007, also came from 12 months in barrel, had to wait a few minutes in the glass to show its full potential, a robust wine, powerful aromas of ripe black fruit, spices, cocoa coverage ... promising wine, not for tasting, accompanied by a strong best roast or stew meat, game and sumptuous dishes and clean your tanning needs fats and proteins that remain in our mouth when we eat foods such as those mentioned above.

Finally a wonderful tasting I hope we bring supporters to the cause of different wines or author, always looking to find suggestive emotions and feelings that lead out of the boring and routine.

Success sounded and left more than attendance and participation, more than 100 people, children and adults having fun on the outside of the cellar, the smallest part that left us a nice souvenir art painting over twenty barrels , the winery made ​​available to the attendees, and moreover adults with guided tasting of the prestigious sommelier Pere Mercado with three wines, prepared by the winery, which were tasted at the event.

Younger children had a fabulous wine unfermented grape Bobal, while older began with a Cava Brut (sparkling wine) tasting  made ​​from Macabeo and Chardonnay varieties.

The two red wines that accompanied the tasting two wines were quite successful, the case of Merlot fermented in barrel Martinez Bermell  was able to appreciate the wine qualities of many fruits, vanilla aromas, freshness and youth.

The second red wine is tasted a  Vera de Estenas Crianza 2008, a wine 'coupage' of Bobal, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, who spent 10 months in French oak casks and refined in one-year deposit and get a wine bottle elegant, with aromas of wood, but closely integrated with a perfect harmony with ripe red fruit, soft tannins and a freshness quite lively due to its balanced acidity.

 

To all this, small works of art ended and the parents had the opportunity to visit the winery and enjoy the beautiful day, fortunately, it was great in this first meteorological October to the harvest in the Utiel winery.