Skip to main content

Fields of Dreams

Row 95 is now working with Vinergia of Spain.  Vinergia, run by Ignasi Lopez and Robert Hunter, is a company that does just a few products, but they do them extraordinarily well.  The core of their portfolio is the "Campos (fields)" line.  This line is comprised of value-priced, estate wines which reflect the true essence of a few of the unique and distinct regions of Spain.   The combination of quality, authenticity and value are the stuff of retailer's and restauranteur's dreams.

Take the Campos de Luz Garnacha for example.  The Campos de Luz (Fields of Light) is from the DO of Carinena, just downriver from Rioja where Garnacha thrives in the dry, sunny climate.  This wine, typically around $9.00 retail, is from a single estate with plots of 40-80 year old Garnacha bush vines with yields of less than 3 tons per acre.   No oak, no artifice, no misguided efforts in the cellar to get higher scores, ... just a pure expression of vibrant, sun-drenched Garnacha.  Exuberant fruit, berries and pepper on the nose.  Broad and expressive on the palate with soft tannins.  A spectacular Rose' (due in late May), Crianza, and a White blend (Chardonnay, Viura, and Muscat) are also made under this label.

Also from the Campos line:
Grown and made in the same spirit as Campos de Luz
Campos de Suenos (songbirds), Verdejo
Campos de Celtas (Celts), Albarino
Campos de Risca, Monastrell from Jumilla, Risca being the limestone rock which is prevalent in the region.
Campos de Viento (windmill), Tempranillo from Ucles currently. However, the '11 will be from a higher elevation, organically farmed, vineyard in La Mancha more on that later.

Many of the wines are in stock now, but what is truly exciting will be the arrival of the next container (late May) which will have the '11 Rose' and the debut releases of the Campos de Suenos, Verdejo and the Campos de Celtas, Albarino.  Stay tuned.

Vinergia Website

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about Elena

 I first noticed it during an extensive tasting of rieslings from Terry Theise portfolio.  Most of the wines (grower champagnes included) were either organic or biodynamic and there was a similarity among all of them...vibrance, lift and a clear presence of high tones.  There was just something "lively" about them. One  of the most recent wines in the Row 95 portfolio to go Organic is the Campos de Risca.  Though from the "Campos" group, the wine is from a small family estate in Jumilla run by the third generation, Elena Pacheco.  Risca are large broken limestone rocks of which their vineyard is entirely comprised.  These suckers aren't the smooth rounded boulders of Chateauneuf, they are rough cut, jagged and virtually impossible to walk on.  Nothing else lives there,...weeds, bugs,  and frankly I don't know why anything would want to. Mourvedre, however, loves it...the heat, those stones, no competition from pesky weeds,  as Goldilocks...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Soils of St. Nicolas de Bourgueil

Whether they come from Chinon, Samur or Bourgueil, Cabernet Franc based reds from the Loire conjure Laphroaig-esque impressions to knowing wine drinkers.  They are often pungent, herbaceous, wildly complex wines with a small cult-like well-read fan-base.    Not in the mainstream for sure.    Just as Laphroaig is not indicative of all single malts, reds from the Loire region don't all share these same outsized traits. The wines from Xavier Amirault are just such an exception and it's not by accident that Vineyard Brands, an importer with deep roots in burgundy would be the kind of company to bring these wines into the United States. Land close to the banks of the Loire river is quite fertile and is reserved for cereals and pasture. Things begin to get interesting as one moves upwards from lower valley.    Lower parcels in the Clos de Quarterons, the Amirault family's estate, have deep (up to 25 feet) gravelly soils which drain well and where generous ra...
Post a Comment
Read more

Alpine Wine

Mitchell Pressman, former owner of the Chesapeake Wine Company, once said that great wine comes from beautiful places.  Perhaps no vineyard setting in the world of wine is more picturesque than the Val D'Aosta in the Italian alps.  It is in this region where the Charrere family run the Les Cretes estate.  They grow indigenous and cultivated vinifera varietals using natural methods.   Here you can find Petit Arvine,  and Tourette which are native to the region in addition to stunning examples of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They are true wines of place...pristine and pure while also showing great length and complexity.  Here are some pictures to prove the point: Coteaux La Tour...Winter Autumn with Alps in the distance. The Charrere Family The best wines are those which give a sense of where they are born.  In all of Val D'Aosta the wines of Les Cretes do that the best.  Look again at the place, there is a freshness, vibrance and purity to it...I pro...
Post a Comment
Read more