2019 Mixtura - Vino de Mesa Blanco (750ml)

Tweet

Consider this a Portuguese/Spanish hybrid. In what feels like the blink of an eye, this estate created in 2019 has earned its place on distinguished wine lists here in the city--and we can see why! This is a very exciting boutique project to watch. Gutier Seijo Otero considers Luis Rodriguez an inspiration, but he’s following an intuition that’s entirely his own. He firmly believes that if he sources the very finest grapes from multiple neighboring historic vineyard sites, and vinifies them together, he’ll end up making a monumental wine.  This runs counter to the modern penchant for single-vineyard site bottlings (which, to be fair, helped to reveal the notion of terroir to the world).

Gutier brings a know-how from time spent at such legendary Italian estates as Rinaldi and Gaja, as well as Dominio Bibei. He only produces about 25,000 bottles annually. This wine is an admirative study of the Minho River valley, which divides Portugal and Spain. The Alvarinho grapes for this wine were sourced from 3 different vineyard sites along the Minho, all on a unique combination of weathered granite (sábrego) and limestone soils. Some of those grapes came from the north-facing vineyard sites south of the Minho on the Portuguese side! A bit of Treixadura is included as well, from nearby Ribeiro. All vines are organically farmed and over 40 years of age, and half of the Albarino is 60-90 years old. Hand-harvested bunches are sorted in the vineyard, then pressed together and fermented with native yeasts in used Stockinger foudres without temperature control. The wine then ages on its lees an additional year in those same foudres, before being racked into ceramic eggs for a final year of aging that also brings texture.

These are ageworthy and intense whites which also have a sense of delicacy. Rich and textured, dry and saline, lively wine; one that’s sure to have a long, impressive life ahead.