Table of contents for January-March 2017 in Selectus Wines

BUBBLES, BUBBLES, AND MORE BUBBLES... When this issue of Selectus Wines comes out, Christmas will be just around the corner again. And with the festive season come bubbles. Some of us will plump for cava, some for champagne, and some for Franciacorta or other sparklers, all of which share that common ingredient... bubbles. Our contributors knew that the magazine’s “CHRISTMAS ISSUE” would naturally be a sparkling one. Guillermo Cruz (who doubles up in this issue) tells us, in his inimitable style, about one of his favourite champagnes and also reports on the new super-premium range from Codorníu, which is taking its products to new levels of excellence. Federico Oldenburg takes a look at the tempting array of rosé champagnes on offer and gives us his recommendations for the festive season…

A NEW FORMAT DEDICATED TO ALL WINE PROFESSIONALS On 29, 30 and 31 January 2017, VINISUD invites all Mediterranean wine professionals to attend the first edition of a henceforth annual trade show. The event will offer several innovations to strengthen services to professionals and the dynamism of business relations at the fair. VINISUD 2017 IN FIGURES Over 20,000 visitors are expected, including 6,000 international visitors from 70 different countries. Amongst them will be 400 major buyers who are key stakeholders in their markets, including 200 VIP buyers recruited by Sud de France for the International Business Forum. VINISUD 2017 will also be attended by nearly 1,000 exhibitors, including all inter-branch organisations. ICEX will again be taking part in Vinisud in a space reserved for around 30 wine producers who have…

Founded in 1870, the Torres Group is synonymous with the history of Catalan wine of the last century, which has reached every corner of the globe. This family-owned group has managed its international growth and generational transition with dexterity. Torres is the most well-known ambassador of Spanish wine in the world, and along with ten other family-owned wine companies, is a member of the prestigious “Primum Familiae Vini” international association. It is without question, The Spanish wine family, because of its history and tradition, its international operations, its focus on the environment and its defense of native grape varieties. Mas la Plana is its flagship estate producing one of its most prestigious wines. It rose to fame in 1979, when it came first in the Cabernet category at the Gault…

According to ancient Irish legend, it was St. Patrick who taught the monks the magical process of spirit distillation back in the 5th century. But it was not until the late 15th century, that the first written documents appeared, in Scotland, referring to this “Aqua Vitae” which, through the phonetic deformation of the Gaelic, evolved to “uisge beata”, which over time was shortened to “uisge” or “whisky”. The truth is that whether it was in Ireland or Scotland, whisky was originally the monopoly of the monks who spread its production throughout their abbeys, giving it the infrastructure and resources needed to improve its quality. This continued until the 15th century when, with the disappearance of many monasteries, whisky moved out of a monastic setting and penetrated all layers of society.…

The life story of Masataka Taketsuru is reflected in the purity and essence of each bottle of Nikka whiskey and it is also the history of Japanese whiskey itself, because Masataka was the first to produce this spirit in the land of the rising sun. Masataka came from a Japanese family which had been distilling rice and making sake since 1733 in the small town of Takehara, near Hiroshima. As a young man, he studied chemistry at the University of Japan and later, in 1918, traveled to Scotland where he studied the chemistry of distillation at the University of Glasgow. He was the first Japanese national to study the art of distillation and to become a Master Blender, and he ended up falling in love with whisky and the woman…

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’. He currently works at the Andreu Genestra (1* Michelin) restaurant in Mallorca. 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 en el restaurante Andreu Genestra (1*Michelin) en Mallorca. Campeón de Sommeliers de les Illes Balears en 2008. ANNA VICENS Girona, 1973 @annavicens Sumiller profesional desde 1997. Actualmente es la Presidenta de la Asociación Catalana de Sumillers.Forma parte del…

Terraza de los Andes was founded in 1999 by Moët Hennessy Wine Estates and Bodegas Chandon Argentina, after several decades of sparkling wine production trials. Located in Luján de Cuyo (Mendoza), the winery specializes in high altitude vineyards and the crafting of premium wines. The founders decided that, if they were to make the best possible wine, they should use the 90-year-old Malbec vines growing at 1,067 metres above sea level, in an area known as Las Compuertas. This is a parcel of acidic rocky soil famous for its dense Malbecs and the nice natural acidity of its wines. The vineyard altitude, along with the nutrition provided by the ice melt from the Andes, result in crunchier, crisper grapes. In addition, the variation in day and night time temperatures encourages…

The Bodega Numanthia team, with its estate director, Lucas Löwi, at the head, gave us a day to remember. We drove to the town of Valdefinjas in the Toro D.O. and to Numanthia’s oldest vineyards. Here, set in the heart of nature, the Numanthia winery has paid tribute to the vine, the landscape and the savoir-faire of man, with an installation, created by a design studio, shaped like a rough diamond to represent the terroir as something which is still “virgin” and to be polished. Three bottles specially chosen by the winery’s director had been lowered into a well dug in the middle of the vineyards, and these wines were tasted by the participants. This gave the tasting ritual an authentic character that would be difficult to beat, given that…

Bodegas Torres presented its first sparkling wine produced on Spanish territory at a very well-staged event. And we say “sparkling” rather than “cava” because they did not want to produce it under the Cava D.O., with all the controversy that this decision caused (although it seems quite legitimate to me). But there’s still time to change… They produce and age this fine 2013 vintage sparkler, the first to be released on the market, in a beautiful farmhouse in Santa Margarida d’Agulladolç in the centre of the Alt Penedès. Mireia Torres and Miguel Torres Jr. are the project’s architects (after Miguel Torres Sr. gave it his blessing). It is therefore the fifth generation of the Torres family who has decided, finally, to make a sparkling wine, which fans appear to have…

I still recall the day when my good friend Xavi Nolla (head sommelier at Codorníu) called me to tell me about a project which would shortly come to fruition… A project founded on long-ageing, the power of single vineyard wines, and their blend. He took me to see the project in its entirety in the cellars in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia and I was delighted by what I saw there. The project is housed in one of the most magical parts of the winery, where Josep Raventós created the first sparkling wine using the traditional method, the forerunner of Cava, in 1872. The mere idea excited me, as I am someone who believes that, before looking ahead, you first have to look behind, back to where you came from, you have…

The oft held view that all wines displaying a pink hue are synonymous with cheap plonk, only suitable for pseudo-teetotallers out on a picnic, is particularly unfounded when you look at the Champagne world. Especially when the gorgeous pink hue has been created by the elite of Champagne, displayed in the loftiest cuvées from the grandes maisons, in the unique rosés from the cult vignerons and in the other pink marvels that can be found in this hallowed region. And it is here, in the sparkling wine stratosphere, where the evidence is hard to ignore: if the miracle of Champagne is based, among other things, on the art of creating fine white wines from red grapes, then rosé champagnes are a fascinating exception. You only have to compare the prices…

Ossian is one of the most prestigious wineries in Spain. Its organic vineyards are the oldest registered and certified in the Rueda D.O., as well as being the highest-lying. Its wines have changed the concept of the Verdejo grape variety, achieving quality and finesse and a potential longevity previously unknown. The adventure began in 2005 with the association of winegrower, Ismael Gozalo and Javier Zaccagninin. They went to Burgundy to meet Pierre Millemann, the maker of prestigious, fine French whites and have him oversee the project. The result was so good that they quickly doubled production and invested in a new winery which they opened in 2006. Today the winery has been acquired by the famous Pago de Carraovejas, ensuring an excellent future for its wines. Capitel is the culmination…

The US is a melting pot of cultures, so we recognize many year-end holidays, starting with Thanksgiving (yes, a holiday celebrating immigration, President-Elect Trump!) then moving into Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. For this latter trio of holidays, we’ve even coined a term to try to make sure no one feels left out: Christmahanakwanzika. (No, I’ve never actually heard someone say it! It’s the thought that counts.) And, of course, there’s the New Year to celebrate, too. Today, wine tends to be part of our celebrations, in whatever form they take. No longer is the USA exclusively the teetotaling Coca-Cola nation, but rather one that enjoys the finer subtleties of life. Yet getting wine right isn’t so easy. One of the keys to hosting a successful holiday is discerning the right…

The NH Collection Casino in Madrid was the venue for the first IWC (International Wine Challenge) Merchants Awards in Spain. The gala event, led by jury president, Pedro Ballesteros MW, a contributor to our magazine, was preceded by a cocktail at which the guests could try various wines from the different D.O.s which now go under the new Vinos de Castilla - La Mancha brand name. It was a low-key, well-managed ceremony. Among the more than 200 attendees were our director and a number of prominent figures from the wine world including Pedro Bonet (President of the Cava Regulatory Board), Guillermo Cruz (head sommelier at Mugaritz, 2 Michelin stars) and journalists such as Sergio Sauca (RTVE) and Alberto Luchini (El Mundo). In addition to the usual awards for the best…

The Codorniu cellars, built between 1902 and 1915 by Josep Puig i Cadafalch and which are a national “historic-artistic” treasure, were the venue for another night to remember, the presentation of the Catalan producer’s high-end cavas. There had been a presentation to the press in the morning and they had put on a gala dinner to mark this important happening in the evening. Internationally recognised journalists and chefs (Nando Jubany, Carles Gaig, Jordi Cruz, etc.), along with restaurateurs and sommeliers, all waited expectantly to taste these cavas (yes, this time, we are talking about cava) which had been long in the making. Jaume de Codorníu is the company’s flagship cava and follows in its line. The single vineyards (El Tros Nou, La Pleta and La Fideuera) are all high-end monovarietals…

The history of this American gin could easily be tied to the famous Route 66 which runs across the United States, because it was in New York where, in 1870, William Scheffler bought the rights to a new type of still and then travelled the over 4,500 kilometres from New York to Napa Valley to start work as a distiller for Charles Krug in St. Helena. In 1880 he bought the Edge Hill Estate, where he opened his distillery after obtaining distillation licence N°209, from the United States Government in 1882. In 1999, with Leslie Rudd at the helm of the distillery, this license number was recovered and adopted as the name for its new gin with an American spirit, made with pure grain and to the highest standards of…

The Patron Spirits Company was created in 1989 not in Mexico, but in Las Vegas (US), by two Tequila entrepreneurs, John Paul DeJoria and Martin Crowley (died 2003). The pair decided to search for a distillery in the best regions for the Jalisco agave, in which to produce what they intended to be the best tequila in the world, according to traditional methods. Tequila Patrón was born, and with it a boom in consumption of quality tequila, made from 100% blue agave, and combining time-tested techniques with modern technology to take the tequila category to the ultra-premium level. With Francisco Alcaráz, its master distiller and international director, at its helm, Patron is seeking to differentiate itself from other tequilas and this starts with its packaging. The bottles are made of…