With this new image, the winery hopes to move even closer to a faithful audience and capture the concerns of a new, ‘curious’ wine community.

Here’s a video uploaded by the winery, illustrating the renovation and explaining the makeover:

Personally, we have no doubt the new look is young, stylish and cool …. What do you think?

La entrada Albet i Noya renews the image of its ‘Classics’: now ‘Curiosos’ se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

Above all, Convento Selección stands out among its peers: these long-aged sweet wines will leave a lasting impression if you’re lucky enough to taste them. The price is certainly not alluring but the quality makes it worth paying for this quirk.

Don PX Gran Reserva and Don PX deserve a mention, excellent wines at a lighter fare.
In the same range it is worth mentioning the “eléctrico” series, fine wines named after their place of aging, a former power station.

In short, there is no excuse for overlooking these unique sweet and fortified wines, forgotten in their day but reborn stronger than ever, are called to be the Spanish wines that make a difference in the international arena.

La entrada We have just received the best wines from Toro Albalá, including Don PX Convento Selección 1946, rated 100 points by Robert Parker se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

The Cava Torelló Brut by Etsuro Sotoo Gran Reserva is made with Chardonnay (29%), Xarel.lo (26%), Macabeo (24%) and Parellada (21%).
50 months of ageing on the lees.

La entrada New cava Torelló By Etsuro Sotoo se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

The wine Pasos de San Martín 2012, made of Garnacha grape, in 35-year-old vineyards, located at an altitude of 600 meters, in San Martín de Unx (Navarra).
This is the second vintage of this wine, and it seems as if it has already attained a very high quality, as proven by the 90 Parker points and the 95 Peñín Guide points.

This exquisite Garnacha gives us rich, wild flavor, distinctive aromas of toast, and a spectacular elegance and balance. The perfect choice for hunting meat, legumes and mature cheeses.

It is not indeed a wine to cellar, but it can be perfectly drunken from today to 2019.

We believe that it will be one of the surprises of this season. A wine, which because of its low production would certainly be an asset to our wine cellar.

La entrada New: Pasos de San Martín 2012 se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

With this wine, the winery intends to consolidate its Crianza red wine range and to offer us the full range of sensantions its “Terroir” is able to.

The Corazón Loco Selección 2010 is made of 40% Tempranillo, 30% Syrah, 20% Petit Verdot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Remain in french oak barrels for 12 months and further 12 months in bottle for refinement.

Tasting notes:
Color Cerise.
Very intense aroma, reminiscent of very ripe red fruits, vanilla, liquorice, clove and toffee.
On the palate elegant, gives us back fruits and toasted wood, together with balsamic armona.

The project of this unique winery began in the 90’s when José Iniesta, Andres Iniesta’s father, planted 10 hectares of vineyards.
After years of watching the results and the evolution of the vineyards, he decided to increase the plantation to the current figures, 120 hectares.

In the beginnings the main activity was exclusively viticulture works and the production was not bottled under any brand.
It was towards the year 2000 when José decided to take a giant step and build a cellar to produce wines exclusively from its own vineyards.
In 2010 the construction of the winery was completed and in that same year the first wines of Bodegas Iniesta were made.
The construction of the winery is the culmination of a dream for the Iniesta-Luján family, whose wide experience in viticulture dates back to the 70’s.
Bodegas Iniesta is located right in the center of La Manchuela, in Fuentealbilla (Albacete) the village where the family originates, halfway between the basins of river Cabriel and river Júcar.

We may find up to 12 grape varieties planted on the property, from native varieties like Macabeo, Bobal, Graciano to other noble varieties such as Chardonnay, Petit Verdot and Sauvignon Blanc, all vinified in La Mancha.
The vineyards were displayed on slopes to take advantage of sunlight, improve ventilation, prevent diseases and to create a microclimate in the plots. Situated at an altitude of 800 metres above the sea level and within 2 km from the winery, the harvested grapes are processed as fresh as possible.
Out of this winery and vineyards sprout Reds, Whites and Rosés under 2 different brands: Corazón Loco and Finca El Carril. The family Iniesta-Luján exercises total control from the first vine planted, grain harvested, vinification, all they way though to the marketing stage.
Under the banner of integrated agriculture, the family works the land using only natural fertilisers and with a clear target in mind: the respect for the land and everything around it.

The family has managed to make good wines with a fresh and modern profile, appealing to the end consumer.
The White wines are fresh and appetising with floral and white fruit notes. Pleasant in the palate, crisp acidity and the freshness that good, elaborated wines should have.
The young Reds and Medium-aged wines are lively and persistent, mature and elegant.
It is worth mentioning El Hechicero, a red wine aged for 12 months in 300l. French and American oak barrels. Powerful nose, complex and warm. Fleshy in the mid-palate, well structured, with elegant tannins and a long aftertaste.
For those you who are wine lovers and want to learn more about the history of this Winery in La Mancha, you have the opportunity to visit the BODEGA, its modern facilities and thus discover how this family of winemakers elaborate their wines.

La entrada Corazón Loco Selección, the new wine of Andrés Iniesta se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

The Artadi Wines:

• Pagos Viejos 2010, a classic among classics. (95 points in the Peñín Guide)
• Viña el Pisón 2010, the flagship of Artadi and one of the few spanish wines, which are recognized with 100 points by Parker (in this case the vintage 2004). (96 points Peñín Guide).
• Valdeginés 2010, “estate wine”, morning sun, fresh fruit, liqueur-like (95 points in the Peñín Guide)
• El Carretil 2010, the grape comes from a 5.3-hectare plantation, possibly the best “estate wine” from Artadi (98 points in the Peñín Guide).
• La Poza 2010, afternoon sun, bulky, powerful and with more tannins than the Valdeginés. (96 points in the Peñín Guide)
• Artadi Tempranillo 2010, wine with good price-performance ratio, the younger brother of Viñas de Gain, as it comes from the same vineyards. Good fruit, balanced with wood, good resistance.

Observation regarding the rating points, Parker has not published yet his valuation for vintage 2010.

Vineyard Profile:

Artadi (Cosecheros Alaveses-Artadi) is a relatively new winery. Although it is a community of winemakers from Alava, the project’s driving force is the respected wine expert Juan Carlos Lopez de la Calle.

Thanks to his excellent work, it has been possible to improve upon the classic Rioja by developing the site’s wines using modern methods to produce elegant, very home-related bottles full of nuance. The project sets an example to all other wine experts. 

The Terroir (or What Makes This Wine Unique)

• The soil is a limestone/clay mix – a fantastic blend;
• Annual rainfall is 750 – 1250 mm/year, or temperate rather than dry;
• The vineyards are in the lofty mountains;
• Normal temperatures range from 8.2 to 19.1 degrees C.

The Artadi vineyard takes up a sprawling 83 hectares. The chalky, limestone soil is the ideal match for the tempranillo grape, which helps the vines to grow well, but as there is also clay in the soil, the vines do not suffer from conditions like ‘chlorosis’. Overall, there are just enough nutrients for the vines to survive, whilst stressing the vines enough to create delicious, robust fruit.

Also, Artadi is situated in a mountainous region. As a result, the vines have cool nights which allow the grapes to ripen without losing acidity or fresh fruit aromas.

The vineyard benefits from a reasonable amount of rainfall. There is enough rain for the vines to create the sugars needed for aromas and tannins, and there isn’t such a deluge of water that sugars in the grapes are diluted. In a good year, the wines will be very characterful. However being not too far from the coast means the vineyard is in a marginal location for growing consistently good grapes, and yearly fluctuations in rain can be bad for the wine. Yet 2010 was one of the good years. (Of course it was a good year – Spain won the World Cup).

From our side we would like to congratulate Artadi in general, and especially Juan Carlos, for this excellent work.

If you want to know more about the red wines of Spain, you can download our free red wine guide:

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La entrada The new Artadi vintage 2010 is already here se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.

The new wine is called after the winery  “Teso La Monja” from the region of Toro, owned by the Eguren Family, and it comes from a small  prephylloxeric vineyard, whose quality was notable during vinifications which were made separately.

Teso La monja 2008 is the result of the application of biodynamic methods in all the stages of growing and elaboration, in order to benefit from the best of the rhythm of nature.

It has started the sale in advance (premier) of this wine, whose market price will reach the 1100 euros.

The Eguren Family from the Rioja region makes a bold step in the Toro’s project “Teso La Monja”, with the birth of a top wine -that is called after the winery- rooted in the principles of biodynamic as regards its growing and elaboration.  828 bottles are available from this first vintage 2008 of “Teso La Monja”, a handmade wine, coming from a small prephylloxeric and old vineyard within a plot of 1.8 hectares, and which has even surprised Marcos Eguren -the oenologist from the winery- due to its quality and just due to the fact that the vinification was made separately.

“Every day we have a deeper knowledge of the terroirs from the Toro and the Rioja regions. We have been working during several years in the identification of the best expression of every terroir. During the discovery of these unique terroirs, we have noticed that we had some jewels that, until now, needed a vinification process made separately, but we were not in the mood due to the low productions”, states Marcos Eguren.

Through this new wine “Teso La Monja”, Marcos and his brother Miguel Eguren had led the biodynamic viticulture to its highest expression, as a return to the agriculture of their great-granfather Amancio. In this regards, they stress that all labours in the vineyard (pruning, farming…) were made by hand, at the right time, to optimize processes and to preserve the principle of minimum intervention, obtaining the maximum identity and character, while respecting the uniqueness of the terroir and the rhythms of nature.
This approach, “exclusive and expensive,” could be practice due to the fact that it was a small size vineyard, but would not be feasible in a larger plot, as it involves “going to the vineyard as often as necessary at a certain time,”says Marcos Eguren.

The delicacy in the process
Teso La Monja 2008, a single-variety Tinta de Toro, comes from a vineyard whose subsoil presents slight streaks of limestone, with a level of limstone slightly higher than the area, around 8-10%, “which gives the wine an unusual distinction and elegance,” says the oenologist.

The harvest was carried out in boxes on 2 October from 10.00 to 12.00 am in one clear day, with a low temperature, with absence of dew. The stripping and grain by grain selection was completed on the same day over a period of six hours. The elaboration included the pre-fermentation maceration in cold to extract colour and aroma and taste components without being crushed. After the start of alcoholic fermentation in open wooden vats, the manually squeezed of the 25-50 cms grapes on the surface, allowing to squeeze between 35 and 45% of the grapes in a process that was developed three times daily for one hour and half. The pumping was done by gravity, without machinery intervention.

The malolactic fermentation took place for an extended period of time -between 5 and 6 months- in a special wooden tank, with an unprecedented and ideal form, which helped to promote the wine biorhythms and contributed to create a silky, elegant and integrated wine. The aging was completed in three new grain thin French oak barrels, medium toasted, for a minimum period of 24 months.

Limited and numbered production
This limited production and numbered wine is presented in a bottle with a special design -ancienne burgundy 77 – to highlight the uniqueness of the project. A team from the U.S. together with the designer Javier Romero and Tapp Label Technologies Inc from California Tapp (as principal members in the project), which usually work for Napa Valley wineries, has ‘dressed’ the wine ‘Teso La Monja’. The bottle No. 1 will be offered to the King of Spain D. Juan Carlos I.

The Eguren Family has started in “Alimentaria 2012” (one of the most important exhibitions in the world) the sale in advance (primeur) of this wine, whose market price will reach the 900 euros; 828 bottles are available from this first vintage 2008. The purchase of a primeur wine in advance allows its adquisition before the wine it is released by the winery.

‘Teso La Monja’ is called to complete the versatility of the family project Eguren at the Toro region, reflected in its actual range of wines: Romanico, Almirez, Victorino and Alabaster.

After landing at Toro with the winery Numanthia-Termes -currently owned by LVMH-, the Eguren family has meticulously chosen the north-oriented vineyards for its new career within the Toro region, with longer growing seasons and cooler soils, all with the main objective of producing wines which show balance, elegance and the maximum potential of the earth.

The Eguren Family is currently working in the elaboration of a brand new Rioja wine, following the principles that have guided the birth of Teso La Monja, in order to get a wine endowed with the highest purity and with the highest identification with the terroir.

La entrada Teso La Monja, the new wine of the Eguren Family se publicó primero en Blog INVINIC.