Cataclysm: Volcanism and Great Wine on the Iberian Peninsula
While staying in the beautiful and historic village of Almagro for the Christmas holiday, we took advantage to visit a nearby Tempranillo estate that had been referred to us by an old friend and winemaking genius in Ribera del Duero. We were astounded by the quality and personality of wines that clearly represented an unprecedented achievement in the area. The estate, Bodegas Calar, is now shipping its first wines to the US and they...
Onward and Upward: Ribera del Duero in the 21st Century
—A Return to the High Slopes— Following Reconquest of the Duero in the 10th through 12th Centuries, monastic orders quickly expanded upon early Roman and Visigothic viticulture, finding ideal conditions for vines and cereals along the banks of Duero River tributaries and in the surrounding high fields, or páramos. After the phylloxera devastation, replanting in the 20th Century focused on the Duero Valley floor and its more easily...
The Journey Began…
Our journey as importers began with an initial expedition to Spain in September of 1983. Slowly awakening from decades of slumber, Spain’s wine industry promised much to avid young aficionados of European terroir. The journey was carefully planned, and had as its final objective a pilgrimage to Sanlúcar de Barrameda to experience the intricacies of that greatest and most enigmatic of dry white wines, Manzanilla. The trip was...
THIRTY (30!!) Vintages of Martínsancho Verdejo in the US!
Iconic Martínsancho from Ángel Rodríguez will see its 30th consecutive vintage arrive to the US this year. The fabulous, drought-concentrated 2015 is among the finest vintages ever for this pillar of Spanish viticulture. In the late 1960s, preeminent Bordeaux Professor Emile Peynaud was given the task of finding the most noble Spanish white variety to produce a dry white wine of equal stature to his client’s centenarian and...
Huguet de Can Feixes
At the very top of D.O. Penedès and in the foothills of the Montserrat pinnacle lies Can Feixes, an historic and beautiful estate producing among the best white, sparkling and red wines of Cataluña. The Feixes family assured contiguous continuity of their extensive mountainside estate for over 400 years, through inheritance by the single eldest successor of each generation retaining the Feixes name. Following demise of the last...
The Significance of Toro Albalá
Bodegas Toro Albalá in D.O. Montilla-Moriles, long and widely regarded as one of Spain’s greatest wine producers, is garnering increasing international exposure through highly visible reviews for recent releases of their aged vintage dessert PX (Pedro Ximénez). These wines stand by themselves on a pedestal within their category. Toro Albalá is the only firm specialized in cask-aged single-vintage PX and is uniquely able to offer and...