It is close to a universal wine tenet that elevation and age of vines tend to contribute some of the more profound and structural elements to wines. The depth of components they tend to elicit comes thanks to climatic conditions that allow substantial phenolic ripening as well as retention of acidity brought by cooler air temperatures, especially in the evening. High-altitude areas in Napa Valley, such as Howell Mountain, are prized because of the intensity that their elevation provides; recent popular interest in the reds of Etna in Sicily has also hinged heavily on altitude and vine age. In the same context, the idea that there is untapped potential in Cari\u00f1ena isn\u2019t just a fanciful notion; these vineyards are found at between 1300 to 2600 feet and vines regularly are 30-100 years old. To boot, there is a surge of viticultural and winemaking energy evident in many of the producers of the area who realize that there is excitement to be found in their multitude of soils, the history of their grapes, and particularly in the stout age of its sometimes centenarian vines, even as new plantings emerge in the area.<\/p>\n
One of the more fantastical aspects of the elevation in Cari\u00f1ena is how quickly soils can change even simply on the walk from the bottom of a hill slope to the top, never mind how it changes with just a short car ride. The diversity of soil types generally ranges from the rich, reddish clay-based earth of the lower lands to the sharp, stony slate of the higher vineyards to large, rounded, nearly galet-like rock-gardens where vines, most of which are not irrigated, struggle and consequently deliver gorgeous fruit. Yet, the one recurring thing you can\u2019t but be impressed by is the balanced minerality in these wines that echoes the recurring sentiment of wanting to offer complexity and quality that is true to the region.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Cari\u00f1ena seems to be in a phase where it\u2019s beginning to understand the balance between classic ideas and adequate technology. On the one hand, you find an unashamed investment in quality modern equipment, the attention to aesthetics in how they focus on their wineries and office buildings, and a renegade desire to not be beholden to older winemaking regulations if it will impact the winemaking they feel can truly show what the area is all about. Yet, on the other hand, there is a concerted focus on minimalistic intervention in viticultural practices and on eliminating unnecessary chemical elements and focusing on sustainability.<\/p>\n For instance, despite what seemed to be an initially uncomfortable cost of implementation, wineries saw success upon collectively agreeing to undertake the insertion of pheromonal tags, which are placed on vines, in order to prevent the breeding of local moths that have been known to cause vineyard problems: a choice made with the mindset of avoiding insecticide alternatives when possible. You\u2019ll also potentially happen upon 70 year old landowners in their vineyards still pruning the vines by hand in the scorching heat of the midday sun. The careful balance of both the classic and the modern is something emblematic of the area and it\u2019s fantastic to see how that very same sentiment can be felt and tasted all the way through to the final wines.<\/p>\n With the multitude of rock soils, and in testament to the history and arduous work done in some of these remote vineyards, Cari\u00f1ena wine has donned the name \u201cEl Vino de las Piedras\u201d: wine of the stones. It is as much an assertion of pride in their own terroir as it is a perfect reflection of how the wines become. It\u2019s not merely the continually prominent minerality that breathes through them, but what is striking about the character of these wines is how they are as a block of stone: meaning that the climatic and geographical conditions in the area (particularly the fierce Cierzo wind that rips through daily) make wines with intense, structured cores and upon these blocks do you find the winemakers individually becoming artists, chiseling out and carving away at their vinous liquids until the details and finesse show from underneath.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Despite all the arrows that point neatly towards an exciting \u00a0nucleus here in the Cari\u00f1ena DO, it is still an area that flies under the radar of many wine aficionados and it is for that very reason that it\u2019s truly a ripe wonderland for wine geeks who are continually looking for the next vinous nook of the world ready to rise to prominence. With that in mind, perhaps Cari\u00f1ena may not be the underdog much longer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE WINES<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the next segments I\u2019ll be outlining my thoughts on a number of bottlings from the three wineries I had the honor to visit during my trip to Cari\u00f1ena: Bodegas Paniza, Bodegas San Valero, and Grandes Vinos Y Vi\u00f1edos. The Garnacha and Cari\u00f1ena based wines of all three find beautiful consistency and quality. I make sure to drive home that point because I ended up finding some other marvelous gems on the outside of that perimeter as well, so while those two grapes are the heart and soul of Cari\u00f1ena DO there\u2019s still much more to enjoy. Cheers!<\/p>\n Bodegas Paniza<\/strong><\/p>\n While they were understandably focused on showing off their powerful reds, the ros\u00e9s from here ought not to be underestimated. Winemaker Antonio Serrano toyed with two different maceration lengths on ros\u00e9s he\u2019s been trying. This one sees 2 weeks and has both delicacy and vibrancy, showing spritely mango, cantaloupe, strawberry, orange peel, and incredible exotic body-spray aromatics while somewhat mimicking a Provence style but showing a richer fruit generosity. The bottle may be a bit cheeky (although it has market appeal) and the longer maceration ros\u00e9 might be juicier, but this really rocks the lighter style while being fruity enough to appeal to summer drinkers.<\/p>\n Bodegas Paniza, Artigazo 2008<\/strong><\/p>\n Their flagship bottling is a blend of 40% Garnacha, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 30% Syrah. As you tend to find with Syrah and Grenache in other areas of the world, there\u2019s a brooding smoked profile here of tobacco and charcoal, but it gets built up with a deep chocolate-covered berry profile. Dark florals, whiffs of mulled wine spices, and a hint of bay leaf round out a wine that\u2019s still structurally massive (especially tannin-wise) even at 7 years of age. The density and the 18 months of aging in French oak make this a wine worth stashing for a bit.<\/p>\n Additional thoughts:<\/strong> The winery is the effective financial hub of the town of Paniza. It\u2019s a huge responsibility, especially when you\u2019re trying to blaze your own path. The wines, across the board, show fantastic promise. A 2013 oaked Cari\u00f1ena of theirs that I tasted was incisive and fantastic, missing perhaps only a dense core of brooding juice to make it amazing. Coincidentally, we followed that wine with a 2014 Syrah that was all burly heft and you couldn\u2019t help but wonder how they both might behave together. The energy and desire to jump into the limelight makes Bodegas Paniza a fun winery to follow as you suspect that once they develop a stride, things will explode.<\/p>\n Website: <\/strong>http:\/\/www.bodegaspaniza.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Bodegas San Valero<\/strong><\/p>\n This sears with all the characteristics you\u2019d expect for high altitude whites. There\u2019s a wonderful mineral profile to this wine; it\u2019s almost Bordeaux Blanc-like. The melding of that with the floral aromatics of the Moscatel and the just-ripe lemon, lime, and apple fruit gets further lifted by a bracing acidity. It\u2019s not overtly deep, but the balance on this wine is outstanding. I will admit, for objectivity, that I experienced this wine by drinking it in the vineyard where the grapes were grown with the General Manager, the winemaker, and the vineyard owner\u2026but the wine truly over-performs for what it is. I\u2019d add this to the by-the-glass section of a wine list in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n Bodegas San Valero, Sierra de Viento, Late Harvest Muscat de Alexandria<\/strong><\/p>\n It seems a bit unfair not to highlight one of BSV\u2019s fantastic reds (the Particular Cari\u00f1ena is \u201cParticular-ly\u201d lovely), but this dessert wine sung to me like a siren. Named after the famed fierce wind that blows in the town of Zaragoza, this amber beauty is a heavenly nectar of orange peel, citrus incense, aromatic oils, and clove wafting over a viscous orange creamsicle and tangy honey core. Sweet digestif wines are maybe always easy to fall for, but this was the first thing I made sure to grab at their store to bring back with me.<\/p>\n Additional thoughts:<\/strong> You genuinely get the sense of an honest communal kind of effort and involvement here, even with 700 associated winegrowers in their ranks. Unexpectedly running into one of the them in his vineyard as we were tasting the wine seemed to bring that sentiment into view clearly. Yet, the winery does not spare clinical effort, critical selection, and a willingness to embrace modernity and technology despite 71 years of history. The entire Particular lineup, which is being well-promoted, is a delicious and fantastic testament to this. The Particular Cari\u00f1ena consistently performs well in reviews regardless of who is writing about it. Also, their Grand Ducay cava is a top-notch, serious taste of bubbly.<\/p>\n Website: <\/strong>http:\/\/www.sanvalero.com<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Grandes Vinos Y Vi\u00f1edos<\/strong><\/p>\n In reality, the entire Beso line is one screaming value after another. I was actually already familiar with their Syrah-heavy Seleccion Especial, which boasts phenomenal meatiness and black fruit, but the Garnacha seems to show off all the reasons I think it often does better with less oak: peppered fresh wild strawberries that taste as if they were just pressed in old baskets and filtered just before savoring. Their Anay\u00f3n Garnacha may garner more appeal because of the fantastic density (and the vineyard those grapes come from is gorgeous), but this is as pleasing a daily drinker as you\u2019re likely to find.<\/p>\n Grandes Vinos Y Vinedos, \u201c3C\u201d 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n I secretly wanted to lose my passport while staying in Zaragoza and Madrid, which was funny upon talking to winemaker Marcelo Morales, a Chilean native (which made me smile since I\u2019d lived there in my youth), who confided that he had planned to stay in Spain for a year when first arriving. It\u2019s now been 15. Stories aside, this 3C is really a kind of culmination of what the region is attempting to accomplish: echoing the DO, grape, and town all in one (as I\u2019d mentioned earlier). The underlying structure underneath this wine nearly belies the fact that it\u2019s refined with and elegance that works in tandem with the smoky black fruit.<\/p>\n Additional thoughts: <\/strong>The picturesque yet classic layout of the winery couldn\u2019t be more apt an aesthetic to their wines. They showcased a tasting of Garnacha wines, each sampled from increasingly higher elevations and it was undeniably evident how much the altitude plays towards the sheer concentration of the wine. It was probably one of the best sensory indicators of why this region is a secret gem. Their entire Anay\u00f3n lineup has rightly garnered plenty of praise and medals, but the barrel sample of the current-vintage Chardonnay we tasted showed particular precision and tension )thanks to the bracing minerality and acidity emblematic of the region) that tip-toes in balance against the rich, viscous nature of the juice this grape offers under good phenolic-ripening conditions, especially when French oak-aged.<\/p>\n Website: <\/strong>http:\/\/www.grandesvinos.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Everybody loves the underdog. Spain is a country with a rich wine history that spans many centuries. In 2014 it overtook the top spot for global exports, jumping ahead of Italy and France. At first glance, you would think that might be evidence of strong, positive trends. However, the reasons for having garnered that honor fly in the face of what many areas, particularly Cari\u00f1ena, are trying to overcome: the vast majority of.. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=174"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174\/revisions\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"3and70\"](\"http:\/\/www.winenashville.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/3and70.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Bodegas Paniza, Ros\u00e9 Garnacha 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>BSV, Particular Chardonnay\/Moscatel 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Beso de Vino, Garnacha 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n