1 btl of each Bodega Pirineos 'Principio' Moristel 2023 Variety: Moristel What's in the glass: Smokey-woodsy orchard smells, cherry tree boughs, lightly charred chestnut leaves - you can’t help but think of tracking a rabbit with a shotgun in your crook, hunching under encinas, swooshing and crunching through grasses, smelling orchard dust and feeling the fresh chill of the Pyrenees creeping in ... Clean, red-fruited (rhubarb tang, fine sour cherry/dried cranberry) and just below mid-weight: there’s a hint of generosity, a touch of roundness, then lots of tang. Briary, with floral blackberry cane tea and lovely vegetal spice perfume finish. Rises and falls exquisitely, a genuine bargain. ABEICA 'Chulato' Tempranillo Maceracion Carbonico 2023 Variety: Tempranillo What's in the glass: Whole bunch Tempranillo with tiny proportions of Garnacha and Viura from ‘younger’ vines, a mere 50+ years old. Temperature-controlled (26C) 8 day fermentation in stainless after 3 day carbonic maceration, pressed to malo then into bottle. Unfined. ‘Chulato’ is a parcela (single vineyard) within a paraje (equivalent to a lieu-dit) called Chulato de Ábalos. This is not quite a single vineyard wine however, as the yield from Chulato is augment with some fruit from neighouring pueblo, San Vicente. Chulato was planted in 1972. 2022 was an ‘interesting harvest’ … very dry during ripening, but with a jolt of freshening rain late … the pink was picked Sept 17, while Chulato hung until October 12. Gran Cerdo Tempranillo 2022 Variety: Tempranillo What's in the glass: Gonzalo is certainly our most unique grower. We first started working with him three vintages ago, attracted to his disregard for authority and for the pure juiciness of his Rioja. A second generation grape grower farming a calcareous clay 4.5ha vineyard, largely by hand. This wine is one of the best value in our range, all fruit, super clean, berries, cherries and violets.
