Wine of the Week 1/19/21
Our new Wine of the Week!
Altos de Montanchez "Vegas Altas" Blanco Eva de Los Santos
Regularly $13.99/On Sale for $11.96
Altos de Montanchez (originally Cerro la Barca) was founded by best friends Juan Sojo and Ángel Luis González in 2003 to revive the reputation of their native Extremadura, in western Spain. While its winemaking history can be traced to 550 BCE, phylloxera and powdery mildew hit the region hard in the 19th century, and it has only recently recovered. Cerro la Barca became the first winery in the Extremadura to operate Organically.
Luis has since left the partnership and Sojo has built a new winery, and is converting to Biodynamic viticulture. The vineyard, in the Tierra de Barros (land of clay), is never tilled; instead, legumes are grown between the vines which are mowed and worked into the soil in the Spring. This is the only treatment the soil receives, and has resulted in a stable and sustainable system for the grapevines.
This extraordinary wine is made from 80 year-old vines of the nearly forgotten Eva de Los Santos grape, and is one of our most complex and pleasing wines under $15. The wine is always seductively aromatic, and this vintage has a rich, almost slippery texture that is usually only found in sweet wines, which this wine very much is not. A soft herbal quality on the palate almost makes this taste like an aromatic Japanese tea, somehow lemony and spicy at the same time. It really has to be tasted to be believed!
For more insight into the remote and unusual culture of the Extramadura region, please enjoy this annual festival in the town of Piornal where a man dressed as a demon walks through the town center and is pelted with raw turnips.