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
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...

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