The family Frutos Villar were already trading wines in the region around the town of Toro (province of Castilla y Leon in the north-west of Spain) at the begining of the last century, their own winery was then founded in 1920. Today, José Luis Villar Rodríguez is the head of the 4th generation´s team. It it them, together with other 3 wineries in the area, who are actually responsible for the foundation of this relatively new D.O. TORO. Beeing such a traditional cellar, this family has definitely managed to develop itself and meets up with the most modern standards of winemaking today. The wines that convinced me from the begining on are their „Muruve“ wines. The „Joven“, “Roble“, „Crianza“ and „Reserva“ are clearly defined, there is a consequent step-up to the next higher quality which you maybe think is strange that I mention it. But this is actually something that you don´t find necessarily very naturally all the time. The grapes for the „Joven“ and the „Roble“ are meanwhile harvested by mashines, the grapes for the „Crianza“ and the „Reserva“ are harvested manually. All four wines are 100% Tempranillo and profit from the high average age oft he vineyards, th oldest vines are more than a 100 years old. For the aging the bodega uses mostly American oak: fort he „Roble“ entirely, for the „Crianza“ and the „Reserva“ with a small percentage of French oak. The „dosis“ of oak is very much in balance with the fruit, the wines are wonderfully harmonic , without trying to cover the typical, natural vigor oft he wines of D.O. Toro.

Brand: Muruve

Winery: Bodegas Frutos del Villar

Vintage: 2006

Varietal: 100% Tempranillo (here called „Tinta de Toro“)

Winemaking: Traditional maceration in stainless steel vats with 100% de-stemmed grapes. 3 – 4 pump-overs per day. Temperature controlled fermentation for 15 – 20 days. After a setting period, the wine is filled into the barrels (90% American, 10% French) where it is aged for 20 months. Racking every 3 months.

Alcohol: 14,5 % Vol.

Average Price: 18 Eur

Tasting notes: very attractive and complex nose, almost right after opening up the bottle. Elegant structure, no voluminous body! Fresh red berry fruit perfectly combined with the coconut and vanilla flavors of the barrels. Nice spice! Hints of herbs and some smoky notes. Incredibly stable (I opened the bottle and only had one glass, finished the bottle 4 days later, and it was still absolutely amazing, hadn´t changed a bit! I was impressed!)

Food Pairing suggestions: well marinated red meats

General Rating: 4 tastevins

Catergories: sit-down, food wine

Brand: Talai Berri

Winery: Bodega Talai Berri

Vintage: 2008

Varietal: 90% Hondarribi Zuri, 10% Hondarribi Beltza

Winemaking: Cold pre-fermentation extracts/ retains the aromas, fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel with tanks mainly closed in order to receive product with just a bit of CO2 left in the wine. This just slightly sparkling white wine is kept in the tanks until the last minute before bottling, no wine is bottled and kept in storage without being ordered. Bottling at 2° degrees Celsius to retain freshness of  the Txakoli.

This extremely fun varietal Verdejo is the autochtonous grape in the northern Spanish D.O. Rueda, just a bit south of the city Leon, in the region of Castilla y Leon. Like many other wine regions in Europe, Rueda suffered in the first half of the 20 th century. The Spanish civil war and the dictatorship under Franco did nothing to benefit the local wine industry. It wasn’t until Marques de Riscal, the famed Rioja winery, arrived to Rueda in 1971 that the region came back into relevance for wine lovers. The region was revolutionized with the new ideas and technology Marques de Riscal brought, and has become famous for producing delightful, fresh and fruity white wines from the Verdejo grape (as opposed to unfashionable, Sherry style wines). Riscal also introduced Sauvignon Blanc to the Rueda wine region, which they discovered blended sublimely with Verdejo. These days, Rueda is wildly successful and producing amazingly good value for money fruity wines. It´s been the fastest growing wine region in Spain in the past year. Recently the regulations opened the DO for the production of red wines, before the region was entirely white…

Brand: Veracruz

Winery: Bodegas Veracruz

Vintage: 2008

Varietal: 100% Verdejo

Pares Baltà, Blanca Cusinè Brut 2006, Penedès

Winery: Pares Baltà

Vintage: 2006

Appellation: D.O Penedes

Varietal: 59.5 % Chardonnay. 40.5 % Pinot Noir

Ageing: The Pinot Noir goes through the malolactic fermentation and then 2 month aging with the lees. The Chardonnay stays on stainless steel tanks. The second fermentation in bottle goes on for 26 month.

Average Price: 15 €

Winery: Dominio de Tares

Vintage: 2004

Appellation: D.O Bierzo

Varietal: Mencia

Oak: 9 month in barrels from the Virginia and Missouri Forrest (American oak)

Average Price: EUR 15