Wine of the Week 3/7/22

Bodegas Sierra Salinas “Mira Salinas” 2016

Regularly $18.99/On Sale for $13.96!

Bodegas Sierra Salinas was founded in 2000 by the Castaño family of Yecla. Since taking over the estate in 2013, the philosophy of the Miñano and Gómez families has been to restore focus on the vineyards, by converting all of them to organic and dry farming. The temptation in such an arid climate as Alicante is to irrigate, but dry farming in this zone forces the root structures to grow deep and produces bunches with a tremendous natural balance of phenolic ripeness and healthy pH. They have also minimized the impact of new-oak barrique in their wines.

The Sierra Salinas winery is surrounded by a total of 92 hectares where almond trees, olive trees and vineyards coexist. Winemaker José Ramón Gago makes the Mira Salinas from 100% Monastrell (aka Mourvèdre) off vines that are between 20 and 50 years old. The grapes are rigorously sorted and de-stemmed, then macerated in stainless steel. followed by 12 months in mostly older French oak barriques. All pumping and handling is light and infrequent to avoid over-extraction of the deep dense Monastrell. The result is a dark and smoky wine that still has bright fruit and a very easy to drink character. This is traditional Spanish red for the dinner table or to take the edge off our remaining chilly nights. Give it a try!