Spain

The Tempranillo (78%) comes from 30-year-old vines in our Cuesta (Cenicero) and Montecillo (Fuenmayor) vineyards. The Garnacha (22%) comes from La Pedriza vineyard in Tudelilla (Rioja Oriental). This 70 hectare property offers unbeatable conditions for growing this variety. Its nutrient-poor soil, covered with boulders, results in great varietal typicity, rich in aromas, with a pleasant, elegant structure. We started picking these plots in mid-October. 

The grapes were harvested manually and transported to the winery in refrigerated vehicles. Alcoholic fermentation took place spontaneously. Malolactic fermentation concluded at the end of the year. In March 2013, the selected wines were put in barrels to start ageing separately: the Tempranillo for 36 months with six manual rackings, in American oak barrels averaging 4 years in age and the Garnacha for 30 months with five manual rackings, in barrels with two and three wines. The final blend was bottled in March 2016.

Outstandingly bright, lively and intense garnet red, with an incipient cherry red rim. The first nose is very intense, with spicy, balsamic and ripe fruit notes. After swirling, aromas of black pepper, sweet liquorice, nutmeg, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon make their appearance. Mouth full of flavours, with a pleasant acidity and balance, and very polished tannins that enhance the harmonious structure. Complex and elegant aftertaste with spicy and balsamic hints. 

To enjoy right now, but with a long life ahead.

Made from 100% Tempranillo fruit aged for 36 months in American oak and held for five years before release and now with some decent age under its belt - what's not to like. Bold and powerful with spicy fruit and mellow tannins Rioja Reservas really are a law unto themselves and given half a chance the oak just melts into the aged tertiary flavours harmoniously.

Tempranillo is one of the world?s most popular on trend red grapes at the moment and it?s easy to taste why in this earthy little bottle of deliciously full bodied goodness. 

New on our Under $25 stand now ? pop in for a bottle or half a case.

Laya is a banging Spanish red made from a blend of heat loving Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell, both of which thrive in the dry arid climate of Spain and in this wine their big bold flavours are well balanced by being grown on vineyards at altitude. This wine is made from grapes grown at 700 to 1000 metres above sea level on limestone soils; two factors that encourage great quality grapes, which express themselves in high quality wines, thanks to the closer than usual proximity to the sun and the cool nights, which stretch out the growing season and provides refreshing acidity to the grapes.

Oak maturation was brief, which soften this wine, adding complexity.

Maravedi is the name of an ancient Spanish coin and this wine is an excellent blend of Chardonnay and Airen (an indigenous Spanish white grape). The flavours are smooth and creamy with Chardonnay strutting its flavoursome, approachable taste in every mouthful. It is made from dry farmed, organically certified vineyards in the La Mancha region of Spain, south of Madrid, which is Spain's largest wine region.

Vallformosa, is a family owned operation that has been around for 150 years. 

Appearance: Pale yellow with greenish reflections in the glass

On the Nose: Good aromatic intensity of fruity aromas, including green apple and fresh herbs like fennel welcome the nose. These fruiter elements also combine with notes of white flowers and citrus in the bouquet to offer complexity.

On the Palate: Vallformosa Cava is a bright sparkling wine with fine persistent bubbles. The palate is balanced and dry while soft, resulting in well balanced acidity and a fruity aftertaste.

About Cava...

Cava is one of the great sparkling wine secrets of the world and you could call it poor man's champagne because it's made the same way, only with slightly shorter aging time and therefore a little less complexity on the palate. Still, given that it costs a fraction of the price and has had its secondary fermentation in the same bottle that you buy it in, this really is superb value for money.

It can be made with grapes grown anywhere in Spain. These days, producers are allowed to use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to make cava but this one is from the traditional Spanish grapes, namely, Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada, each of which combines to create a fruity but dry and lightly yeasty fresh taste. A stunner at the price and an extremely fresh, refreshing dry bubbly. Awesome value for money.

100% Bobal from DO Manchuela near Cuenca. 

Bodegas Ponce has been at the forefront of modern Spanish wine since their inception in 2005. 

Juan Antonio Ponce's dream was to make wines with the old vineyards of his native Manchuela. He attended viticulture and enology school when he was 14 years old, and after five years of working with Telmo Rodriguez after his graduation he started his own winery Bodegas Ponce when he was 23 years old. Inspired by his years with Telmo and the growing minimal intervention movement in France. He approached his native varietal Bobal in a way unlike that of neighbors. Farming sustainably, with organic and biodynamic principles and harvesting the grapes weeks before his neighbors. In the winery he works simply and cleanly, whole bunch fermentation, native yeast fermentation and aging in old wood vats. His wines are more like those from Beaujolais and the Loire Valley than Rioja and Priorat. What is fascinating is that Manchuela is a region where the locals joke that there are nine months of winter and three months of hell, which sounds nothing like the bucolic hills of Beaujolais nor France?s garden, the Loire valley. The P.F. stands for Pie Franco. The vineyards for this wine range in age from 40 to 90 years old and they are all ungrafted. Juan Antonio?s wines are some of the most elegant wines being made in Spain.

Calatayud, a small appellation in the heart of Arag6n, Spain. A hidden valley and home to the red garnacha grape. A valley where the working conditions are difficult for the farmers. Rough slate soils, old bush vines planted on steep slopes up to 1,100m, hot summers and cold winters where rainfall is scarce and the wind is
always blowing. Furthermore, they have to deal with a fragmented landscape of small parcels and rarely have a successor for their years of hard labour. It's tough and challenging, and yet, they understand the value of their soil and grapes, each plot providing a distinct character to the grape compared to its neighbour. Las Pizarras (the slate soils) is our range showcasing the diversity of the region. Named after the town or plot the grapes originate from, each wine in the collection expresses its unique character, but all are born out of soil, nature and the right human touch.

FABLA is a language used in several places in the north of the autonomic
community of Arag?n for over 1.000 years. Today is used by just 12.000 people.

Harvest: End of September, beginning of October
Clasification: Calatayud DO
Grape varieties: 80% Garnacha 20% Syrah
Vinification: Direct incubation and fermentation for 15 days at no more than
16 degrees Celsius to preserve all the fresh fruit of the Garnacha.
Ageing: 30% of the Garnacha is aged 3 months in barrel

TASTING NOTES
Intense cherry red colour. Typical Garnacha with aromas of ripe red fruit,
prunes, figs and some black pepper and minerality.

The pairing suggestion - lamb stew, carrots, courgettes and a couple of black olives

100% Chardonnay from the Catalonian region of Penedes in Spain, sandwiched between the Mediterranean and the local coastal mountains not far from Barcelona. The region is famed for its Cava production but here we see new wave wine makers Cellers Avgvstvs Forvm working with a Chardonnay and showing how modern Spanish winemaking is evolving.

Aged in French Nevers oak for 4 month and offering plenty of tropical and citrus fruit flavours and aromas.

Premium Cava made from carefully selected organic Xarel?lo, Macabeu, Parellada, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, which are then worked manually to achieve the best result.

In the glass this is a lively and bright cava with balanced aromas of white fruit, citrus and green almonds. 

Mara Mart?n Exceptional white wine born in the heart of Monterrei. The essence of inland Galicia runs through its veins: freshness and serenity. Mara takes you by the hand to a brilliant autumn. Mara participates in the recovery of the Wall of Medeiros, a unique Iron Age fortification surrounded by ancient cave presses. An ancestral wine landscape that little by little will reveal its secrets. Mara was born in the heart of Monterrei. The essence of interior Galicia runs through her veins: freshness and serenity. Mara leads you by the hand to brilliant autumn.

An outstanding new sparkling wine from Spain, modelled on the best from France and made the same way as champagne. This means that the second fermentation took place in the bottle and this provides depth, weight and complex layers of yeasty, fresh bread aromas which are beautifully balanced here by notes of ripe citrusy purity, adding a long finish. A high priced Cava but worth the spend - this is a wow wine. 

Env?nate translates to 'wine yourself' and is the brainchild of four winemaking friends, Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos and Jos? Mart?nez.  

This fleshy, funky, dry white is made from 100% List?n Blanco grapes, grown on 70 to 110 year old vines grown between 900 and 1200 metres of elevation in Tenerife. The viticulture is highly traditional with the vines growing untrained, the soils is worked by hand and no chemicals used. 

Grapes were all hand harvested, destemmed and rested on their skins for 12 to 24 hours then pressed and fermented with native yeasts in concrete vessels. After fermentation, the wine rested on its lees in a mix of used French oak vessels (30%) and two concrete tanks (70%). One of the concrete tanks developed a veil of flor (~30% of the wine aged under flor), and all of the wine underwent spontaneous malolactic fermentation. 

Unfined and unfiltered. 

About Envinate

Envinate was formed when the four winemaking friends, above, graduated in 2005 from studying enology at the University of Miguel Hernandez in Alicante, they formed a winemaking consultancy, which has grown into Env?nate, their project that focuses on exploring distinctive vineyard parcels in the Atlantic regions of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands.

This Reserva Tempranillo from Valdepenas is a great example of the quality coming out of Spain at the  moment.  Ripe and juicy, yet also with hints of oak and complexity.  Grapes from their oldest, low-yielding vineyards were combined with those of younger vines to create a blend of rich dark fruit with smooth vanilla and rich cocoa. 12 months in American oak barrels, followed by a further 24 months in the bottle add a silken texture to the blend.  Superb with hearty stews and char-grilled steaks as well as a variety of tapas.

"Dark cherry red with a savoury bouquet infused with redcurrant fruit and cake spices, then spicy and savoury to the taste with lifted red berry fruit, a touch of orange zest and peppery spices. There's a nice touch of smokiness coming through, underlying earthy notes and a long dry finish lifted by vanillin oak and mint. Tannins are firm yet the wine is ripe and juicy with a pleasing generosity. Fantastic presentation.  13% alc."