Table of contents for July-September 2021 in Selectus Wines

Summer is Here... ... and with the summer and the better outlook on the pandemic, we are all eager to make up for lost time, to be with family and friends, enjoying a good glass of wine in any of its variants (white, red, rosé, sparkling, etc.). Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921-2007), a well-known writer and actor in Spanish artistic circles in the second half of the 20th century, once wrote a story entitled “Bicicletas son para el verano” (“Bicycles are for summer”). Well, in this issue of Selectus Wines, and as a nod to consumer trends, we have put together a special report on rosé wines because the general belief among the wine-drinking population is also that “rosé wines are for summer”. In this report, by our columnist Xavi Ayala,…

JOAN ARBOIX ROURA Mallorca, 1981 @Joanet112 Professional sommelier since 2006, he began his career as a sommelier at the Moo restaurant (1* Michelin) in Barcelona. He has also worked for the Ritz Carlton in Spain and Chile as a sommelier and maître d’. Sommelier and Director of beverages in the Santi Taura Group. Balearic Islands Sommelier Champion 2008. Sumiller profesional desde el año 2006. Trabajó como sumiller en el restaurante MOO de Barcelona (1*Michelin). Ha trabajado para Ritz Carlton en España y Chile como Sumiller y Jefe de Sala. Actualmente, Sumiller y Director de bebidas en el Grupo Santi Taura Campeón de Sommeliers de les Illes Balears en 2008. ANNA VICENS Girona, 1973 @annavicens Professional sommelier since 1997, she is currently President of the Catalan Association of Sommeliers, a member…

Many of us think only of Galicia when we think of this variety, but we must remember that Godello is also commonly grown in the area between Galicia and León, as well as in the Portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, where it is known as Gouveio. Of course, Valdeorras is the most famous region for this variety, where the vines trail along the slopes down to the Sil River. It is said that the winemaking there is “heroic”, and this is so true that, due to the steep slopes and rugged terrain, much more than mere knowledge is needed to carry out the harvesting. Since 2016, the numbers tell of little more than a thousand hectares in Spain, while in Portugal more than double that number was planted…

The closure of borders amid the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the restrictions in the On Trade, has seriously impacted exports, one of the main outlets for Spanish wine. According to the latest data from the Spanish Wine Market Observatory (Observatorio Español del Mercado del Vino), Spanish wine ended the difficult COVID-19 year with declines of -3.6% in value and -6% in volume, although there was a slight upturn in the last two months of 2020. However, the wine sector remains firmly committed to internationalisation, and this year, the wineries and promotional bodies are focused on promoting Spanish wine beyond our borders. Among these measures, ICEX and the Interprofessional Wine Organization of Spain (OIVE) have reached an agreement to build awareness of Spanish wines in the international market. Agreement between ICEX…

FILLABOA SELECCIÓN FINCA MONTE ALTO 2018 BODEGAS FILLABOA D.O. Rías Baixas / Salvaterra de Miño, Pontevedra - Spain / www.bodegasfillaboa.com P.V.P.: 18,80€ / 100% Albariño / 13,50º Produced as an estate wine, using only Albariño grapes from vines growing in Finca Monte Alto, one of Fillaboa’s best, only 6.7 hectares of 28-year-old vines, located at 150 metres altitude with sandy soils from decomposed pebbly granite. The wine reveals a very bright appearance, its yellow hue flecked with green. Intense nose, luscious ripe fruit, hints of apple, citrus and some tropical touches of pineapple. When swirled in the glass, its powerful complexity soon becomes apparent with toasted notes of dried fruit. On the palate, we are surprised by the wine’s acidity and charmed by its unctuousness. In other vintages, the…

DOROTEO 2015 · PAGO DE LOS CAPELLANES D.O. Ribera de Duero / Pedrosa de Duero, Burgos - Spain / www.pagaodeloscapellanes.comP.V.P.: 60,00€ / 100% Tempranillo / 15,50º When a wine represents family, land and tradition to the winery that makes it, then we have a wine with an enormous emotional charge. It is a tribute to grandfather Doroteo and to all the winegrowers who worked the land that we now cultivate, to mark the 25th anniversary of this iconic winery. Doroteo represents the hard work, perseverance, determination and steadfastness, as well as the enthusiasm, passion and vision, of a generation that has left us a great legacy. This is a wine with deep roots, from a small and prized plot of old Tinto Fino vines growing near the winery. It is…

SW.: It is obvious that we are facing a potentially huge problem given the climate change that is occurring. We can see it in the weather conditions: much higher temperatures in summer, shorter spring and autumn seasons, harsher winters... How did we reach this point? Temperatures have been evolving throughout the history of our planet. There have been periods of high temperatures and glaciations, but these changes have been attributed to natural phenomena and have occurred over thousands of years. The major difference is that today, just over 200 years since the start of the industrial era, we have reached a global average temperature rise of 1.3ºC due to greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere – mainly as a consequence of industrialisation and the use of fossil fuels. While this…

Since time immemorial, rosés have in many ways been perceived as the ugly duckling of the wine world. But today, in this report, we are going to try to change this perception. For this summer special, we have tried numerous rosés, made in different areas with different varietals and in different styles. In Spain, the general belief of most wine consumers is that rosé is a blend of red and white wine. They do not know that to make a rosé the must is left to macerate for a few hours with the skins after the red grapes have been pressed. The longer the time, the stronger the colour. There are, however, some rosés that are indeed made by blending red and white grapes or wines together. The white grapes…

ALTA ALELLA LAIETÀ ROSÉ 2016 · ALTA ALELLA D.O. Cavae / Alella, Barcelona - Spain / www.altaalella.wine / P.V.P.: 21,50€ 100% Mataró (Monastrell) / 12,00º This is a wine made from the Mataró variety (Monastrell), a genuine Mediterranean variety that has a lot of pigmentation. It has a reputation for being rustic and not very acidic, tending to produce wines with plenty of tannin, alcohol and structure. But when we open this bottle, the Monastrell we have is refreshing, it is pure elegance, it is extreme finesse, and it is all subtlety. This is something that only the best producers can achieve, after years of research and perseverance. The wine reveals a very pale pink colour with purple tints and fine, small bubbles. Subtle red fruit comes through on the nose,…

PAGOS DE ANGUIX DIEZ MESES EN BARRICA 2017 · PAGOS DE ANGUIX D.O. Ribera de Duero / Anguix, Burgos - Spain - Australia www.pagosdeanguix.com / P.V.P.: 21,00€ 100% Tinto fino / 14,50º The Juvé & Camps family’s high standards made it difficult for them to find the perfect vineyards with which to embark on their new project in Ribera del Duero, but with Pagos de Anguix they eventually found what they were looking for: more than 30 hectares in Olmedillo, growing at an altitude of 850 metres. Although the grapes were not harvested by the new winery itself, the wine of the 2017 vintage was crafted from a selection of the finest barrels. This was done to show the potential of the vineyards and the grapes that had attracted the family…