Table of contents for January-March 2022 in Selectus Wines

THE MOST INTERNATIONAL ISSUE IN OUR SHORT HISTORY Several factors have contributed to making this 38th issue the most international of the last 10 years since the creation of Selectus Wines, which we will be celebrating in 2022. Firstly, we will be featuring a Champagne House with a very long history: Philipponnat. Then, we take you to a Californian winery with its origins in Australia, i.e., Penfolds, which is now introducing its first American vintages to the market, 20 years after it began its journey in North America. And lastly, we report on the highly colourful and original design for La Grande Dame 2012 which Veuve Clicquot has created in collaboration with a Japanese artist. So, as you can see, we have a "sui generis" mixture of different origins and…

SPAIN A CORUÑA AC Hotel Palacio del Carmen. Santiago de Compostela ALAVA Restaurante Zaldiarán (Vitoria) Hotel Marqués de Riscal – A Luxury. Elciego Collection Hotel Restaurant Zaldiarán . Vitoria-Gasteiz ALBACETE Rest. Maralba. Almansa ALICANTE Hospes Amerigo AC Hotel Ciutat d´Alcoi. Alcoi Restaurant Quique Dacosta. Dénia Rest. L´Escaleta. Cocentaina ASTURIAS AC Hotel Forum Oviedo. Oviedo Restaurant Casa Marcial. Arriondas Restaurant La Salgar. Gijón Restaurant Auga. Gijón BARCELONA Hotel Mercer Hotel Le Méridien Restaurant Rías de Galicia Restaurant Hofmann Monvínic Restaurant Moments Santa Eulalia Restaurant Xerta Joyería Rabat Joyería Suárez Hotel Majestic Hotel Omm Restaurant Windsor Hotel Palace Celler de Gelida Restaurant La Clara Restaurant Nectari Restaurante Cinc Sentits Arsenal Masculino Four Points by Sheraton Restaurant Via Veneto Restaurant Abac Restaurant L´Oliana Hotel Rey Juan Carlos I Restaurant Gaig AC Hotel Victoria…

JEAN LEON Y JOSEP GUINOVART VINO Y ARTE VAN DE LA MANO The Jean Leon winery is launching the 2015 vintage of its iconic Vinya La Scala Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva (DO Penedès) with a label that pays tribute to Josep Guinovart (1927-2007), a Spanish painter most famous for his informalist or abstract expressionist work. The work of art used for the label’s illustration is entitled "Els ceps i la nit" ("The vines and the night"), and, with its twisted vines and green and ochre hues, conjures up the image of a moonlit vineyard. La bodega Jean Leon lanza la añada 2015 de su icónico vino Vinya La Scala Cabernet Sauvignon Gran Reserva (DO Penedès), con una etiqueta que rinde homenaje a Josep Guinovart (1927-2007), uno de los máximos representantes…

LA PEÑA 2019 MILSETENTAYSEIS (Alma Carraovejas) D.O. Ribera de Duero / Fuentenebro - Burgos - Spain www.milsetentayseis.com / P.V.P.: 50,40€ Tempranillo y Albillo Real / 14,00% From the new Alma Carraovejas venture, we have this wine with the freshness of its 1,706-metre altitude. Its grapes grow on ancestral bush-trained vines, planted in the red clay soils of Fuentenebro, home to varietals such as Tempranillo, Albillo, Monastrell and Garnacha. This is a new take on the Ribera del Duero, working conscientiously with old vineyards with an eye to the future. It is the second vintage of this rosé, fermented in a 600-litre French oak vat and left to rest on its lees for over six months. As a result, we have bags of red fruit, fullness on the palate and a touch…

But who is Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, what is his background and where did his interest in the world of wine, and champagne, in particular, stem from? I grew up in France’s Champagne region, amidst families from the champagne world. Although my own family was more from the beer or spirit making industry, my early origins are in the Champagne region. Did you ever consider any other career when you were younger, or did you always want to be a winemaker? Beer, malt, hops and distillation were my references until my family sold the family business to the Belgian Stella Artois company when I was young. I then turned my interest to the world of champagne, with which I was, of course, familiar from living in Reims. More bubbles! I already knew…

Luciano Murrieta was a man ahead of his time. Only he was able to see the infinite potential of the wines from Rioja. In 1852, applying the techniques he learned in Bordeaux, he created the wine that everyone still talks about today: Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial, the jewel in the Marqués de Murrieta crown and a gold standard for quality wines from Rioja. The Marqués de Murrieta not only founded the famous winery (originally called Château Ygay because it was created in the image of the Bordeaux châteaux), but he also established the current quality standards, made clear his intention of achieving an international presence for his wines and created one of the most enduring wine labels of all times. 170 years later, thanks to the tireless work of…

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…

ARZUAGA CRIANZA 2018 BODEGAS ARZUAGA D.O. Ribera de Duero Quintanilla de Onésimo - Valladolid - Spain www.arzuaganavarro.comP.V.P.: 19,50€ / 94% Tempranillo, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon / 14,00% This wine represents a quest for a balance between freshness and mellowness, between structure and delicacy, between the perception of the gentle ageing and the extreme fruitiness of the raw material. Both the grapes (mostly carefully-selected Tempranillo of a pronounced character) and the distinctive terroir show through in this wine which is fruity and elegant, smooth as a result of its nice maturity, complete, flavoursome and well-proportioned as a whole. This is a classic and emblematic wine from the region, which we love with each vintage. Una búsqueda por el equilibrio entre la frescura y la melosidad, entre la estructura y la delicadeza, entre…

MIRTO 2015 RAMÓN BILBAO (Grupo Zamora) D.O.Ca.Rioja / Haro - La Rioja - Spain www.bodegasramonbilbao.com / P.V.P.: 38,90€ 100% Tempranillo Riojano / 14,50% At the pinnacle of the Ramon Bilbao winery's quality scale, we find Mirto, derived from the oldest vines, almost 100 years old. This is a very early vintage with fermentation and ageing in French oak that have resulted in a deep, powerful and complex wine. It reveals aromatic intensity, ripe black fruit smoothed by the oak, liqueur cherries, spices and vanilla. On the palate, there are balsamic and roasted notes which, together with the wine’s concentration and nice structure, marry perfectly with dark chocolate. This Tempranillo is uniquely poised to stand the test of time. En la cúspide de los vinos de calidad de la bodega Ramon Bilbao…

A QUICK-FIRE ROUND… 10 QUESTIONS, 10 ANSWERS Quick test… 10 preguntas rápidas, 10 respuestas rápidas A WINERY THAT HAS IMPRESSED YOU BESIDES ROEDERER?: Además de Roederer, una bodega que le haya impresionado: RAMOS PINTO, DOURO, PORTUGAL A WINEMAKER?: Un enólogo: PIERRE GONON, SAINT-JOSEPH A WINE REGION?: Una zona vinícola: ETNA, SICÍLIA A GRAPE VARIETY?: Una variedad de uva: PINOT NOIR A WINE TO TASTE?: Un vino para disfrutar: HAUT-BRION 1961 A WINE TO SHARE?: Un vino para compartir: LOUIS ROEDERER BLANC DE BLANCS 1990 A WINE FOR A GOOD MEAL?: Un vino para una buena comida: PULIGNY MONTRACHET « FOLATIERES » 2014 THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINE YOU HAVE EVER DRUNK?: El vino más caro que ha bebido: ROMANEE CONTI 1959 THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINE YOU HAVE EVER BOUGHT?: El vino…

Producers in the sparkling wine world have been obsessed with trying to disassociate the consumption of their products from the calendar. But before that, they had wanted to disassociate them from a meal’s order of service and the idea that sparkling wines should only be enjoyed with desserts. This practice therefore fell out of fashion. For more than a decade now, sparkling wines have also not only been consumed at Christmas. We now find them at various celebratory gatherings, served as a welcome drink or to accompany a whole meal. In the selection below, you will find our pick of sparkling wines of different origins, ranging from Cavas to Champagnes and Corpinnat. Corpinnat, as you will recall, is a quality brand of sparkling wines produced in the heart of the…

Stories differ as to how this grape variety came to be grown in Spain. But two theories are the most popular and the origin of the grape is now generally agreed to be the Canary Islands. After this, there are the two versions, as we said. The first is that this grape left the Canary Islands to travel first to the Rhine area (Germany) and then down to the region of Andalusia. The person responsible for this triangular journey is said to have been a certain Peter Siemens, a German soldier who fought in the Flanders Tercios. This soldier also answered to the name of Charles V. The other version has it that Ximénez was the name of a Spanish cardinal, ambassador to the court of the emperor in Frankfurt.…

CHOCOLATE BODEGAS ORBEN D.O.Ca.Rioja Villabuena - Alava - Spain www.artevino.es/bodegas/orbenP.V.P.: 20,60€ / 70% Viura y Malvasía, 20% Tempranillo Blanco, 10% Maturana Blanca / 14,00% If the first blend was a great success, blend N°2 is not going to be outdone! In this case, the three vintages are 2017, 2018 and 2019 and the wine is crafted from the Viura, Malvasía, Tempranillo Blanco and Maturana Blanca varietals. All of these originate from micro-plots of old vineyards in Rioja Alavesa. This is a “plural” wine in terms of vintages, varietals and vinification methods, which involved concrete eggs and barrels of different sizes. White flowers are very evident on the nose, followed by plums and toasted aromas on the palate. This distinctive wine offers us a clean smoothness, perfect acidity and a very…

SECRET DEL PRIORAT 2018 FAMILIA TORRES D.O.Q. Priorat El Lloar - Tarragona - Spain www.torres.esP.V.P.: 15,50€ / Garnacha, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot y Syrah 13,50% This is the first vintage of a new wine from the Torres family in the Priorat region. Like all the wines that bear the Torres family's hallmark, it is a wine that speaks of the landscape, that respects the environment and is accessible to most consumers, both in terms of price and palate. There is a sprig of almond blossom on the label and a lovely, elegant Grenache and Carignan liquid inside the bottle. This is a very harmonious native red wine, with some really nice tannin and a personality characterised by length, silkiness and lusciousness on the palate. La primera cosecha de un nuevo…

They offer various tours (check out their website) but you will find they are all worthwhile! The professionalism of the staff who relate the history of the winery, the pride they show when they talk about their vineyards and the naturalness with which they express themselves and answer the questions we curious visitors ask, make this visit a great experience for adults and children alike (we visited with our 11 and 13-year-old children). The new winery is modern and elegant with an understated design. It is very spacious, equipped with the most advanced technology and has a large capacity to house the excellent wines which come from its vineyards. In one part of the tour they relate the history of the winery, and here we find documents, photographs and tools…