Meet the producer: Clos Mont Blanc, Catalunya, Spain

This post is the result of a meeting with Clos Montblanc of Catalunya at the online fair organized by Onvinum in February 2024 and I am grateful to the producer for the samples received which I tested and paired as noted below.

Unic 2022

Chardonnay 100%
A mellow chardonnay, round and balanced. I paired it with tomato sauce pasta with Spanish tuna and the moderate structure of both food and wine went well even though I would have liked a bit more acidity.
Score 83

Xipella 2023

An eclectic blend, Xipella makes for an honest straightforward wine that will go down well with a wide range of food pairings and consumers. This wine is balanced, moderately long and ticks all the boxes for a pleasant drink that is perfect now with the coming of Spring. It does not strike me for its freshness or for its complexity and this is why the first work that came to mind was straightforward. I paired it with spaghetti and mussels and it was a successful marriage in that both wine and food proposed medium structure and the moderate acidity did not overwhelm the sapid flavor of the seafood.  Enjoy it without thinking too much about it! Score 87

Xipella 2019

Carinena, cab sauvignon and syrah for this well balanced wine with a nore of ripe red fruits, and a palate with notes of chocolate. Well rounded tannins, long finish. I paired with Chinese oily tofu and it worked well, both dishes offering moderate structure and the gentle tannins contrasted amicably with the oiliness of the tofu. Score 90.

Chinese oily tofu with spring onions and asparagus

Inici 2018
garnacha negra 79%, cab sauvignon 21% in organic production

An elegant wine, perfectly balanced, complex and long. A rare gem with less than 3000 bottles produced.

Score 92

G de Gourmand 2021

A fruity and fresh wine despite the old vines (30+ years), almost delicate. I paired it with pizza.

Score 86

Old vine wines with Sarah Abbott

Sarah Abbott, co-founder of the Old Vine Conference,  led a unique presentation of wines from old vines at the London Wine Fair 2024.

Old Vine Conference is a London based non-profit dedicated to the promotion of wines made from vines with decades of history behind them.

This is hopefully a good thing in many ways. First of all, of course, old vines usually make harmonious, complex wines with great aging potential. 

Also, it is environmentally useful to maintain the genetic diversity of vines, and maintaining old vines reduces the chance that some varieties might get lost forever.

So what is "old"? for the OVC a vine is "old" when it is at least 35 years old, a rule apparently developed in Barossa, in Australia.

Here are my tasting notes:

1. Villa Bogdano 185 bianco, Veneto Italy, 2018

81yo vines of friulano

This vineyard was originally planted in 1943, and it is now farmed according to EU organic rules (bio).

Moderately intense and still good freshness. Good complexity and length. 

Www.villabogdano1880.it

Rrp £ 23, score 89

2. Garage wine sauzal lot 95, Maule valley Chile 2018, 

No recorded age, monastrell 

Origins shrouded in mystery but these vines were were already old when Nivaldo the owner was a child and HE is now old... 

Ripe cherries, good balance, complex, delicate, fragile, not concentrated as expected, mature now, don't wait any longer.

Www.garagewine.company

Rrp £ 19, score 88

3. Plaimont Manseng Noir, côtes de Gascogne 

Manseng noir variety, young vines re-planted from old vines material.

Vibrant light perfumed wine, floral notes, delicate tannins, might be best enjoyed cool.

Www.plaimont.com

Rrp £12 score 87

4. Marchelle Wines Cinsaut, Bechtold Winery, Mokelumne River, California, USA 2020 

Vines are a whopping 138-year-old!

Intense, elegant, perfect balance, complex, ready now with some aging potential.

Only 77 cases made grab one fast!

Www.marchelleswines.com

Rrp usd 54, score 92

5. Louis Martini, Gnarly vine, Monte Rosso Sonoma valley, 2018

100% Zinfandel

Like the previous wine, this also comes from a 138yo vineyard.

Intense ripe cherries, elegant, complex, perfect balance, long. An exceptional, harmonious wine.

Ready now could yet evolve some in bottle. 

Www.louismartini.com

Rrp £ 61 score 96

6. Once and future, Teldeschi vineyard "Frank's Block" in Creek Valley, Sonoma, 2019

Zinfandel

120yo vines for this fruity, balanced very long wine. Ready now but tannins could perhaps become a bit rounder with a couple of years in the bottle.

www.onceandfuturewine.com

Rrp usd 50, score 89

7. Catena Zapata Malbec, m mendoza, Argentina 

Vines 94yo and 28 yo

Www.catenazapata.com

Plump mature red fruit and also complex long 

Rrp £75 score 92

8. Feudi di San Gregorio, Serpico, aglianico, Campania Italy 2016 

Vines 100+ yo ungrafted

Www.feudi.it

Fruit, alcohol, tannins still very much alive. Hopefully time in the bottle will help harmonize this wine. 

Rrp £60,score 86

Join the Old Vine Conference if you agree old vines often make great wines!

https://www.oldvines.org/membership

Wines from Sardinia, with Peter McCombie, MW

Wines from Sardinia are well known to sommeliers, but a dedicated masterclass in London is always a good surprise. Eloquently led by Peter mcCombie MW, who told us how most grapes Spanish origin: cannonau carignano vermentino. Which is not surprising in light of Spain's long rule of the island and its relative geographical proximity. Sardinia only joined Savoy in 1762, a century before Italy as a unitary state even existed. 

Vermentino di Gallura is the only docg, yet the most amazing surprises from today came from the red bottles.

Here below my tasting notes. Scores were given blind, we were only shown the labels at the end of the masterclass.

1. White Melio campidano

20yo vines

Steel on lees

Intense nose Fresh savory skin, contact produces structure. 

Score 90

2.White Ver

mentino di Sardegna 

5mos Steel on lees

3k out of 4k total hectares planted in Italy 

 Intense nose fresh complex 

Score 90

3.White Vermentino Gallura docg

Fresh complex long, texture bites, 14.5abv

35yo vines 

Score 88

4. Red 2021

Bovale grande di Spagna, carignano, rosso igt

Tends to be a little rough, old vines better 

Tannins need a little bit of time 

Score 86

5. Red

Carignano del sulcis 

Intense nose, balance, mod complex and long

Score 92

6. Red

Garnacha cannonau di Sardegna 

Full open complex and long, perfect balance 

White pepper, 

Score 95

7. Red

Mandrolisal doc

Intense perfect balance, complex and very long 

Score 96

Meet the producer: Menguante Granviu, Aragon, Spain

Map by Vineyards.com

A family (1 brothers 2 sisters) winery in Aragon, south of Rioja, with their vineyards (130ha) that have been producing wines since the XVIII century. Currently  planting about 5 to 10 new hectares every year as the demand for their wines is increasing.

Their vineyards are cultivated organically, as they were by the owners’ grandfather who started the business.  All vineyards are organic certified. As a result, yields are relatively low, totalling some 500k bottles per year overall. 

They put special emphasis on indigenous grapes, mainly White and Red Garnacha, Cariñena and Vidadillo. 

Three different ranges are produced: Menguante, Menguante Selección and Gran Viu.

Below our tasting notes on samples that were graciously provided to us.

Menguante Garnacha blanca selección 2020
smooth Vanilla aromas, almonds, touch of freshness for a balanced wine
Score 88

Menguante Tempranillo, "waning moon" 2020
right after opening it welcomed me with a slightly rough edge, but it became more balanced during the meal and the day after it was a perfect harmony of round tannins and fresh wild red berries

Score 89

Lettuce roots, porchetta and Menguante Garnacha

Menguante Garnacha 2021
At first it hit me with a hard sensation and the tannins seemed aggressive, but it was a trick: one hour after the bottle had been opened it revealed a velvety and classy caressing character which I paired with the utmost satisfaction to a dish of stir fried Chinese lettuce roots and Italian porchetta. The by now gentle tannins still displayed a strong character to envelop the meat's fat and deliver a harmonious match.
Score 93

Menguante Garnacha Selección
An elegant wine, with complex aromas and a powerful yet lively start in the mouth. Mature red fruits and a generous dose of tertiary sensations, especially wet tobacco and a hint of chocolate that makes one hope of further evolution. Ready now but I would venture to recommend some patience.
Score 92

Menguante Vidadillo Selección 2017

A unique local variety, which only exists in their village Almonacid de la Sierra, south-west of Zaragoza, and they own 15 out of a total of 35 hectares dedicated to this variety.  

Grown in Almonacid de la Sierra, between 500 and 750 meters above sea level, produces a moderately structured wine with lots of fruits and moderate balance. Fruits sprints forward in the palate. It is also a fairly complex result with good length. Hard to predict its aging potential, as it is my first vidadillo, but I would say it is ready now. 

Score 90

Carinena Seleccion Granviu  2016

Garnacha, carinena and tempranillo blend, twelve months in French and American oak barrels.

Their best wine in this selection, intense ripe aromas and an elegant palate with tertiaries and good complexity and length. Ready now, the tannins are rounded as needed but it might still evolve a bit more in the bottle. I paired it to my great satisfaction with fried chicken on a bed of rocket.

Score 94

Map by Wine Folly

Meet the Producer: Molleda wines

The Hacienda Molleda winery is located in the municipality of Tosos, 9 km away from Cariñena and 51 km from Zaragoza. It belongs to the Protected Denomination of Origin (P.D.o.O.) of Cariñena (Carignan), in Spain's North-East, one of the most ancient and pioneering P.D.o.O. in Spain. Hacienda Molleda  consists of 250 hectares of vineyards, mainly native Cariñena (Carignan) varieties, such as Garnacha (Grenache) and the grape Cariñena (Carignan), also known as Mazuela. Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Macabeo are grape varieties, which are also cultivated in the Melendez – Molleda family estate. (from their website)

Here are some tasting notes from the bottles we were sent for review.

Molleda white
Garnacha white and Macabeo
brilliant straw yellow
fresh start but soon develop smoothness for a good balance.
Mod complexity, a great Summer wine to drink in your garden or terrace
Score 88

Molleda 2020 Garnacha roble
Fresh, lively tannins, could use more time to smoothen. Mod lenght. An easy wine for a Summer bbq
Score 83

Molleda Finca La Matea, garnacha 2016
A well balanced wine, expression of fruit and elegant structure. Ready now, complex and mod long.
Score 92

Carinena NV
Entry level easy wine.
Score 76

Carinena GHM 2014

Their best product of this relatively unknown grape that presents us with a fruity nose and a lively tannin. What it lack in complexity it makes up in balance, especially a few hours after opening the bottle.

Score 88