Unusual opportunity to taste some wines from a grape variety, and a wine region, that were not known to Roving Somm until now. In this post I am going to review some wines from the Bodegas Virgen de Lorea, in the Spanish Basque Country. An estate that goes back at least 300 years but that has recently modernized and updated its production, including to organic certification. Twenty-two hectares surrounding the winery produce wines that belong to the Denominacion de origen Bizkaiko (Biscay).
In the video below I had the privilege of interviewing Gorka Zabalbeitia, wine maker of Bodega Virgen de Lorca. Below follow my tasting notes of three txakolina wines that they provided to me for review.
Artistic bottle representing various scenes from the region of production.
single vineyard, 35+ yo vines
Intense aromas of flowers, fresh attack, slightly tingling on the mouth and a moderately long finish
I paired it by contrast with fatty raw salmon and also with mackerel and crab-filled ravioli
Score 91
Aretxaga 2024
Hondarribi Zerratia grapes
Hondarribi Zerratia grapes
A fresh and lightly sparkling wine, citrusy start evolved into herbaceous notes and ends in rounder banana tones. Moderately long finish.
Score 89
I paired Señorio de Otxaran 2023 and Aretxaga 2024 with a Chinese dish of pork belly ad mushrooms to contrast the wines’ freshness with the food's fat and it worked out very well. A touch of truffle oil from organic producer Biosasun completed the successful experiment of the evening.
Hondarribi Zerratia grapes
single vineyard, 35+ yo vines
A more complex and round wine than the predecessors, a more structured body that will probably age well for a couple more years in the bottle although all these wines are meant to be drunk fresh out of production.
Score 92
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| Pork belly rice and black mushrooms Chinese style |
