euro trip: destination spain 🇪🇸

orto vins was founded by joan asens and three of his winegrower friends with long family histories in wine. joan was the former winemaker at alvaro palacios in priorat and creator of l’ermita. orto vins make wines following biodynamic methods and with absolute respect for the vineyard and the earth. the vines are up to 100 years old and are planted at high altitudes making for brilliantly structured and fresh wines. this 100% garnacha blanca is fermented and aged in stainless and aged on the lees for 7 months. it’s round but fresh and lively with white fruit, flowers and minerality.

4 monos (4 monkeys) is a team of four friends and lovers of wine native to this region. as is typical of the new spain, this ‘gang of four’ assembled in a less conventional manner: they met while hiking in the gredos mountains, one of the most profound wine terroirs to emerge in recent years. the sierra de gredos is located 80 miles west of madrid, and is a mountain range that spreads over parts of three appellations – méntrida, vinos de madrid, and castilla y león – and sits between 600 and 1200 meters in elevation. old bush vines planted on sand, granite, and schist intermingle with sweet-scented olive, evergreen, almond, and chestnut trees, scrub brush, chamomile, and wildflowers – it’s a landscape that feels like a holy collision between the mediterranean and the alpine. 4 monos farm organically and minimalism reigns in their cellar. the gr-10 is a blend of garnacha, cariñena, morenillo and syrah and named after the spectacular walking trail, gr-10, which connects lisbon and valencia and crosses through a few of 4 monos' vineyards. it’s fresh, lively and juicy with soft, fine-grained tannins that perfectly frame the sweet fruit and floral flavors that lead into a refined and savory finish, and a mineral spine runs through the wine, adding complexity and depth.

alvaro palacios (mentioned above in the orto vins story – we love the connected world of wine :) ) is one of nine children born into a famous winemaking family from rioja but became a world famous, trailblazing spanish winemaker himself by putting the eastern coast high altitude wine region priorat on the map.  but he didn’t stop there – he went back across the country to northwestern spain in bierzo and with his nephew bought up plots of old vine mencia. this spicy perfumed grape can be seen as a cross between pinot and syrah. this is medium-bodied, fleshy, juicy and rich with dark and red fruit and earthy minerality.

this should be one of your new go-to fuller bodied reds! bobal is the third most planted grape variety in all of spain, but you’ve likely never heard of it! for a longtime, the fruit from this high yielding vine was destined for bulk wine, and it wasn’t until recently that a group of quality minded growers began to champion it. one of these torchbearers is vera de estenas, founded in 1945 by francisco martinez bermell, possibly the most traditional producer in utiel-requena and founded in 1945 by francisco martinez bermell with some of the oldest bobal holdings in all of spain! this wine is crafted from bobal vines averaging 50 years of age (some of them up to 100 years!) from clay-calcareous soils.  the wine is fermented in concrete tanks and raised in a mix of concrete and old american oak barrels. this bobal is medium-bodied and juicy, showing a mix of bright black and red fruits, spice, and minerals.