Today’s first stop was Rueda, white wine country, and the Bodega Hermano del Villar (del Villar Brothers). This rather sizeable estate of 247 acres of vines spans an elevated, gently rolling plateau at an attitude of 2400 feet. Continental climate here with great variation between day and night temperatures which keeps the vines fresh and helps the grapes preserve the all important acidity that give this wine the necessary verve. The vineyard is covered in small round ‘river stones’ that visually look like vineyards we have seen in Saint Julien in Bordeaux, and the subsoil is a mixture of line and clay which helps retain moisture in this sometimes arid, breezy spot. Most Ruedas we have tasted over the years were pretty simple, utilitarian juice, but lately there has been a real move throughout Spain to upgrade the quality of the whites through lower yields, better vineyard management and vinification techniques such as battonage (lees stirring). The vines here average over 30 years, impressive for a property this size and they further work on quality by taking the unusual step of harvesting at night when it’s cooler. This apparently serves to further reduce oxidation.
We started with the obligatory vineyard tour, interesting in this case because the distinct appearance really is unique among all the vineyards we saw on this trip. We were not familiar with Hermanos del Villar wines so this particular discovery may bear some fruit. We then went back to the winery, which is located in the town of Rueda, and saw the stainless steel fermentation tanks in the efficient winery area, then on to what was a tasting/hospitality room fashioned around an old Roman wine press.
Ancient Roman Wine Press
The varietals grown here are Viura, Verdejo, and Sauvignon Blanc, but the Oro de Castilla, made of 100% Verdejo was the star of the show. If it tastes as good when it arrives and hits the right price point, it will likely be a major feature, something we haven’t said much thus far on this trip.
Of course in Spain, one does not sit around and merely drink, so along came a jamon, complete with a jamoncero, and some bread and olive oil they produce on the estate, which provided a pretty striking companion to these refreshing whites. As we were waiting for the caterers to arrive with lunch we walked about three blocks and were shown, quietly tucked away in a non descript building you could only get to by passing through another building, what turned out to be what might be described as a junior, junior, junior Davis, a wine lab that had dozens of various studies and experiments going. It was apparently where all the local vintners came to get work done and the full time enologist there was conducting some of the labs own studies as well. There were tanks, beakers, and all manner of containers with varying identifying markings.
Lunch in the cave.
Back to the winery for lunch in what was the “deepest cellar in all of Rueda” or some such. One had to feel a little sorry for the ladies that worked for the caterers who basically had to haul the plates, glasses, and food up and down the 58 or 59 steps to the cellar (yes I counted them but forgot to write it down). Baccalau (salt cod), a big time staple throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and some other tasty things were served with more white wine, it was a pretty good day so far. Back up the stairs, and a little later on we were off to Toro and Bodegas Matarredonda.
As happens sometimes on these trips, someone can kind of hit a wall, and that happened about the time we arrived in the Matarredonda vineyard, the Bodgea founded in 2000 by Alfonso Sanz Rojo. The 60 acre vineyard contained lots of old vines ranging from 70 to 140 years old and, on the surface, we were remembering a first visit to Toro in 2000 where I walked among the old vines for a project that pretty much put Toro on the international wine stage, Numanthia. Was this going to be another such discovery? The prior vintages had some pretty serious scores ranging from 91 to 94 point from Wine Advocate.
Patrick Mata of Ole with Winemaker Rosa Zarza of Matarredonda
In all fairness, it was warm, it was windy, and about the last thing we felt like doing at the moment was walking around a dusty vineyard. Seeing the vineyard and the old vines is of value, don’t get us wrong. But there comes a point where it becomes a little silly. After all, are you going to gain more knowledge if you look at the vines longer? We would have quietly gone back onto the bus at that point, but the bus was gone. Maybe our mood wasn’t right, but when the vineyard walk was over and we finally tasted the two Toros, the impression was of a wine with some persistent hard acids. We reserved final judgement until later (we tasted both the 2005s and the 2004s when we returned and really didn’t change our mind). After going to the modern, clean winery set on a small hillock and having a few bites of Tortilla, we bowed out for the evening hoping that an early night to bed might do wonders for the psyche.
Sr. Rojo was a gracious host and all, but this had to rank as one of the disappointments of the trip. This would have been a great story…new winery, old vines, scores, attractive winemaker. But the wine didn’t perform to our expectations in the glass so it won’t happen here (at winex), although it will probably happen somewhere. A point we make over and over is that it’s all about the juice. Trips are fine, going out to dinner, there are all kinds of events that can happen to put a positive spin on somebody’s impression of a wine. It takes a lot of discipline to focus on what you are tasting and close out everything else. But it’s important because you can’t deliver the ambiance to your customers. The wine has to pass muster all by itself. Ah well, early to bed…
In the end, there was the first of many jamons Iberico, the cured hams traditional in Spain. Having been in the meat business some three decades ago and pretty handy with a knife, I assisted in slicing as there was no jamoncero (a server who specializes in slicing up a the jamons). A little bit more red wine and off on the bus to the small town of Tudela.
