Hello! Welcome & Welcome Back!
It means so much to me that you took the time to subscribe to this wine club and, more importantly, chose to spend your hard earned money with us. This month's club release is focused on the wines from high elevation sites. The elevation of a vineyard can have important effects on its climate and therefore on its viticultural potential. Other things being equal, temperature falls by about 0.6 °C/1.1 °F per 100 m/330 ft greater height. However, the influence of elevation on climate varies depending on whether the area is on the windward or leeward side of the mountainous area. Windward zones will typically be cooler and wetter with height, while leeward zones, known as rainshadows, will typically be warmer and drier. Planting vineyards at higher elevations is commonly considered a means of avoiding the impact of increasing temperatures related to climate change.
With the increased market emphasis on fresher styles of wine, ever-higher vineyard sites have also been sought in the warmer wine regions. The lower temperatures at higher elevations retard both vine budbreak, reducing the risk of late frost, and, in particular, ripening, so that nights are cooler during the ripening period, leading to higher acid concentration. Elevated vineyards also experience more ultraviolet radiation, which is likely to increase wine quality because of stimulation of phenolic synthesis. The fruit has to protect itself from this high radiation, producing thicker and darker skin. So the wines have darker, deeper color and great tannic structure. The extreme conditions produce high-quality fruit and give us a great paradox: very dark and concentrated wine, but elegant, fresh and harmonious at the same time.
The Gist on the Wines
Molino Real "Mountain Blanco" is surprising and original, marked by the aromatic intensity of the muscat grape and an incredible mouthfeel, showing complexity and great balance between freshness and ripeness. Málaga is traditionally known for sweet wines, but dry wines are also produced in the area under the Sierras de Málaga DO (which is what we have here). Mountain Blanco is made from 100% Moscatel de Alejandría sourced from two steep sites grown in polyculture on slate slopes from 500m to 1000m elevation. It is a dry, refreshing table wine with remarkable minerality and ability to develop in bottle; in fact, it needs extensive bottle age before it is released. Grüner veltliner comparisons come to mind, with a similarly rich yet acid-driven mouthfeel and a white flower, orange zest, and white pepper flavor profile. After a manual harvest, the grapes are pressed traditionally using olive oil presses and esparto mats. The wine is then fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and aged for nine months.
Dolcetto di Dogliani has always been acknowledged as the finest expression of the variety. Though the appellation shares a border with Monforte, vineyards are at an average of 550 meters above sea level, about 200-300 meters higher than those of Barolo and Barbaresco. This elevation, in combination with a slightly cooler climate, made Dolcetto the first choice for all of the best exposures, since it was too cool for Nebbiolo. Boschis soils are similar to those of Serralunga: calcareous clay, that, with these elevations, gives the wine a powerfully enhanced bouquet, as well as minerality and structure far beyond what you might expect from humble Dolcetto. Boschis’ old vines – some as old as 70 years—are all from a massal selection of Dolcetto from a prephylloxera vineyard of the late 1800s. Their biotype of Dolcetto is very peculiar compared to the more diffuse types being planted today: it has a red stem, very low yields and small berries with a thick skin. Vigna dei Prey is laced with raspberry jam, white flowers, cinnamon and dried rose petals. Medium in body, but with notable depth and tons of fruit intensity.
The Details on the Wines
Molino Real, Moscatel de Alejandría, "Mountain Blanco," Sierra de Málaga (2022)
When Telmo Rodríguez founded his eponymous wine company with partner Pablo Eguzkiza in 1994, they were inspired by the remote and forgotten landscapes of Spain. They knew that great wines had been made throughout rural Spain in the past, but in the early nineties, few had the vision required to imagine those forgotten regions and varieties could rise again. Most everyone else was busy crafting cheap, anonymous wines with international varieties. One has to remember that Australian wines were the hottest wines at that particular moment and Spain was being told that they needed to follow the cheap international varietal approach of the day. Not Telmo and Pablo. They knew better from their formative winemaking experiences in France to trust in indigenous varieties and look for inspiration in old vineyards. They spent a lot of time reading old books, picking up hints of where and how the historic wines of Spain were made. In the course of their research, they came across the “Mountain Wines” of Málaga, once a favorite wine of the English. Less famous than Sherry, the wines of Málaga were at a substantial disadvantage, commercially speaking, from their Andalucian neighbors. The wines were made in a rugged, mountainous inland area, rather than right by a major port. As such, the wines eventually simply faded into obscurity after phylloxera, yet Telmo and Pablo were determined to recover the former glory of Málaga’s mountain wines. Thus, Molino Real was born in 1996.
Moscatel grapes for their flagship Molino Real wine comes from nine hectares of vaso bush-trained vines on steep slate slopes at elevations between 350 and 1,000 meters, located around the village of Cómpeta, in the rugged Axarquía region in Málaga. The region, facing the Mediterranean sea, with terraced vineyards on steep slate cliffs, could draw comparisons to Priorat in the north or Banyuls in France. As is traditional, the grapes for the sweet wines are dried on cañas, reed mats, in the sun. Frames are set up so that temporary roofing can be used in case of rain. Dehydration by sun-exposure concentrates grapes in such a way that all the sugar and alcohol in the resulting wines come strictly from the grapes.
Molino Real’s dry wine, which we have here, is surprising and original, marked by the aromatic intensity of the muscat grape and an incredible mouthfeel, showing complexity and great balance between freshness and ripeness. Málaga is traditionally known for sweet wines, but dry wines are also produced in the area under the Sierras de Málaga DO (which is what we have here). Mountain Blanco is made from 100% Moscatel de Alejandría sourced from two steep sites grown in polyculture on slate slopes from 500m to 1000m elevation. It is a dry, refreshing table wine with remarkable minerality and ability to develop in bottle; in fact, it needs extensive bottle age before it is released. Grüner veltliner comparisons come to mind, with a similarly rich yet acid-driven mouthfeel and a white flower, orange zest, and white pepper flavor profile. After a manual harvest, the grapes are pressed traditionally using olive oil presses and esparto mats. The wine is then fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks and aged for nine months.
Francesco Boschis, Dolcetto, "Vigna Dei Prey," Dogliani Superiore DOCG (2020)
A family farm in the truest sense, the Francesco Boschis estate is run by Mario Boschis with the collaboration of his wife Simona and their two adult sons Paolo and Marco. They not only have some of the best high-altitude, old vines plantings of Dolcetto in the Dogliani appellation but also grow hazelnuts, as well as keep bees and cattle on their farm.
Dolcetto di Dogliani has always been acknowledged as the finest expression of the variety. Though the appellation shares a border with Monforte, vineyards are at an average of 550 meters above sea level, about 200-300 meters higher than those of Barolo and Barbaresco. This elevation, in combination with a slightly cooler climate, made Dolcetto the first choice for all of the best exposures, since it was too cool for Nebbiolo. Boschis soils are similar to those of Serralunga: calcareous clay, that, with these elevations, gives the wine a powerfully enhanced bouquet, as well as minerality and structure far beyond what you might expect from humble Dolcetto. Boschis’ old vines – some as old as 70 years—are all from a massal selection of Dolcetto from a prephylloxera vineyard of the late 1800s. Their biotype of Dolcetto is very peculiar compared to the more diffuse types being planted today: it has a red stem, very low yields and small berries with a thick skin.
The first vintage under the Boschis labels was 1968, so 2018 marks 50 years of estate bottling for the family, even though they have been growing grapes in Dogliani since 1919! They have a total of 22 hectares, but only 10.4 are planted to vines. Though the family works organically by definition, they are not certified. The EU labels their farming practices as sustainable.
The eye-catching labels of the wines are the work of Teresita Terreno, a local Langhe artist, and each gives hints about the wine’s nature: the strawberries on the spring-released Pianezzo refer to the wines early approachability. The San Martino has an autumnal scene, harmonious and languishing in the year’s remaining warmth—San Martino’s elegance and complexity are always on full display. Vigna Prey shows an austere hazy winter’s day frozen in snow—this is the most structured and powerful of the trio.
