New @ The Thief: José Pastor Selections

SHOP JOSÉ PASTOR SELECTIONS HERE

Spain’s Etch-a-Sketch

Let’s see, what do we have here? *digs through cases of newly arrived wine* Ah, yeah, pretty standard stuff: a grape no one has heard of, grown on the side of a volcano off the coast of Africa, a zero-sulfur blend from the suburbs of Barcelona, a Rioja that tastes like it came from the Loire, a natural pet-nat from Mexico’s Marcel Lapierre, and a Chilean Pinot Noir fermented in a cowhide. Just another day at The Thief.

What do all of these wines have in common? They’re all imported by José Pastor Selections, a relatively new discovery that has been shaking the heck out of the Spanish speaking wine world’s Etch-A-Sketch. From fresh updates to classic regions like Rioja or Ribera del Duero, to undiscovered treasures in the Canary Islands and Mexico, Pastor’s wines share a commonality of sustainable viticulture, low-input winemaking, and vivaciousness, coupled with an uncommon (in the natural wine world) rigor of cleanliness, clarity, and typicity. The wines from four-way collaboration Envínate have received a fair bit of press already (and remain some of our favorites in the portfolio), but there are plenty of other fascinating producers. Let’s meet a few of our favorite new faces...

DOLORES CABRERA

 

José Pastor is possibly best known for contributing to the popularity of wines from the Canary Islands. Tenerife, the largest and most populous island, lies 200 miles off the coast of Morocco. Here, Dolores Cabrera organically shepherds centenarian Listán Negro (a variety believed to grow nowhere else) vines trained in the local cordon trenzado braids. Her La Araucaria Tinto cuvee is dark, spicy, and smoky, a common thread for volcanic wines. It is also, at $24, one of the shop’s best values.

AKUTAIN

 

After stages in some of the most illustrious cellars in Rioja (La Rioja Alta and CVNE), Juan Peñagaricano Akutain began planting his own vineyards. He hoped to recreate the classic wines of the region with exacting micro-cuvees, rather than the domineering omnipresence of the larger bodegas. If his 2018 Consecha is any indication, he might be outstripping the larger houses. A crunchy, fragrant, funky joven (young) wine, this is a bistro buster that deserves a hot grill.

BICHI

 

These might be the first wines from Mexico that the shop has carried! Bichi has only been around since 2014, but they are standing on the shoulders of hundreds of years of local wine production. The winery began as a collaboration between the Tellez family and Burgundian Louis-Antoine Luyt, who is best known for his work with the Mission grape in Chile. Bichi now farms 25 biodynamic acres of vineyards around Tecate, east of Tijuana, and collaborates with local growers on other organic vineyards, striving to produce “vinos sin maquillaje”, or wines without makeup. For the Listán cuvee, 100-year-old Listán Prieto (also known as Mission or País) vines produce tiny yields of concentrated grapes that are then fermented in locally made concrete tinajas. These are culty, hard to find natural wines, and they are going to go quickly.

HERRERA ALVARADO

Carolina Alvarado and Arturo Herrera built their adobe winery by hand, and 15 years later they still do not have electricity. Instead, they rely on traditional enological techniques, including incorporating cowhides in the fermentation of their red wines. This is a cooler part of Chile just north of the Casablanca Valley, where Sauvignon blanc and Pinot Noir reign supreme. Their La Zaranda Sauvignon blanc, named after the local manual destemmer, is macerated for a couple of days before fermenting and aging 17 months in concrete. Bottled without SO2, this is a salty lime and candied jalapeno zinger that has me dreaming of a hot porch and bottomless fish tacos.

SHOP JOSÉ PASTOR SELECTIONS HERE

Cabernet, You Say? Winter Warmer 6-Pack Specs & Photos

SHOP WINTER WARMER 6-PACK HERE

 

Cousiño Macul Antiguas Reservas 2017

• Maipo Valley, Chile
• Founded in the 19th century and still owned by the original family
• Estate grown
• 7-day cold maceration
• Fermented 10 days
• 20 day extended maceration
• Aged in French oak for 12 months
• 90 points WS
• Dried cherry, white pepper, crushed marjoram

 

Campo alle Comete Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

• Castagneto Carducci, Tuscany
• Alluvial clay
• Fermented and macerated for 3 weeks in stainless steel
• ½ aged in tank and ½ aged in French oak, some new
• 90 points WE, 90 points JS
• Black currant, blueberry, cedar

Jim Barry The Cover Drive Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

• Coonawarra, South Australia
• Red loam (terra rossa) over limestone
• 21-year-old vines
• Aged 12 months in French oak
• 3.45 ph
• 90 points WE
• Blackberry compote, plum, cola

 

Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

• Central Coast, California (San Antonio Valley, Paso Robles, Hames Valley, Arroyo Seco, and San Benito County)
• Barrel fermented
• Aged 10 months in French oak, 60% new
• 3.79 ph
• 91 points WW, 90 points WE
• Black cherry, mocha, vanilla

Sister’s Run Old Testament Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

• Coonawarra, Australia
• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
• Terra rossa
• Single vineyard wine
• 3.61 ph, 6.01 g/l TA
• 90 points WE
• Blackberry, cinnamon, bay leaf

Secret Squirrel Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

• Columbia Valley, Washington
• Declassified estate fruit from Red Mountain and Walla Walla
• Native yeast fermented
• Aged in French oak puncheons
• 92 points Owen Bargreen
• Cassis, dark chocolate, espresso

SHOP WINTER WARMER 6-PACK HERE

Love & Strife & Spanish Wine: An enlightened philosophical debate – over text - between coworkers...

WARNING: High-level wine nerd content and possible swearing.

ALLAN

The wines you like usually show the worst possible wine flaw - perceptible new oak. They are the Chevy commercial, Bob Seger, unironic denim jackets of wine.

MATT

I have trouble deciding if the wines you like are flawed, or if the winemaker’s mustache wax fell in the barrels.

ALLAN

High alcohol. New oak. Structure you’d be better off chewing than sipping. Not all of us have hearths and overstuffed leather chairs to sit in while we swirl our grape whiskey and think about the Civil War.

MATT

“Natural Wine” is throwing away everything and all the technology to make things better. You probably prefer porn from the 70’s.

ALLAN

“Old school” Spanish wine, especially Rioja, was just mimicking Bordeaux after it was wiped out by phylloxera. Who knows, maybe whole cluster no so2 carbonic zero zero biodynamic dry-farmed no-till regenerative b-corp wines were already a thing before the homogenization. And...uh…uh… Priorat is dumb.

MATT

I think some new-age hipster winemakers heard high VA gets high scores. They should not have set their bar at actual nail polish remover. That wine you made me taste with a “little” brett would pair nicely with filet mignon and a horsesh&% demi-glace. BTW, it was so underripe the side of green beans tasted more like grapes than the wine did.

ALLAN

Syrup is for pancakes, not Syrah, score-chasing is for people who don’t know enough to trust their own palate, and, to quote Sideways, “I will not be drinking any fucking Russian River Pinot!”

MATT

Flashy labels are for beer. You can f&%* beer up and brew another batch. You would think after making a bulls$%# wine and wasting an entire vintage, one would learn, but no, they just got stoned and thought mother earth would come and save the day.

ALLAN

Michel Rolland and Robert Parker were the vinous equivalent of a human centipede. Is this Carmenere, Merlot, or Malbec? Who knows? It smells like prune juice and tastes like it was made by a 10-person committee at Budweiser. I bet you like Crocs.

MATT

I once heard winemaking was like going to battle with microbiology. Apparently, your wines are like the French, just not like French wines.

ALLAN

Look, I’m sorry your wines haven’t been cool since Carson Daly was a thing. You and I both know that these things go in cycles. Pet-nat and carbonic maceration are cool right now, but by the time your daughter is drinking wine, the hot new thing will be Elon Musk’s Martian Merlot, or Botswanan Acacia Vermouth, or skin-contact Viura fermented in a burned-out Terminator exoskeleton. What I’m trying to say is this - even then, your wine still won’t be cool.

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We haven’t come to a compromise, but one thing is for sure: we would both happily share a bottle of Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial. As long as the other one is picking up the tab.

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NOTE TO READER: Do not attempt to buy either of these bearded gentlemen Vega Sicilia Unico. They’ll just find a reason to make fun of you.

 

BATTLE SPAIN 3-PACKS

BIG & BOLD (Matt), SHOP HERE

AVANT-GARDE (Allan), SHOP HERE

Alto Moncayo Veraton Garnacha 2016

• Campo de Borja
• 100% Grenache
• 30-50-year-old vines
• Aged in a mix of French and American barrels for 16 months
• 80% new oak
• 94 points JS, 91 points WA, 90 points WE
• Blueberry, blackberry, vanilla

Bodegas Breca Old Vines Garnacha 2017

• Calatayud
• 100% Garnacha de Aragón, the oldest clone of Garnacha in the world.
• 1925-1990 (The majority of the vineyards are planted between 1965 & 1990)
• Dry farmed
• Practicing organic
• Fermented in stainless steel using pied de cuve
• Aged 18 months in used 500l and 600l barrels
• 92 points JS, 92 points JD, 91 points WS
• Red currant, mocha, licorice root

 

Marques de Murrieta Rioja Reserva 2015

• Logrono, Rioja
• Bodega founded in mid 19th century
• 80% Tempranillo, 12% Graciano, 6% Mazuelo, 2% Garnacha
• Fermented in stainless steel for 8 days
• Aged 2 years in American oak, 1 ½ years in bottle prior to release
• 93 points WA, 93 points JS, 92 points WS (#40 Top 100 Wines 2019), 92 points W&S
• Dark cherry, cedar, cardamom

 

Commando G La Bruja de Rozas 2018

• Vinos de Madrid, Gredos
• Garnacha
• 50-80-year-old vines
• 2800’ elevation
• 40-60 day maceration, native yeast fermentation
• Aged 9 months in 30-60HL oak vats
• 95 points JS, 94 points WA
• “They seem to go from strength to strength and are getting closer to their goal with some of their wines achieving world-class status! One of the most exciting new projects not only in Gredos but in the whole of Spain!” Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate
• Blackberry, slate, cracked Tellicherry pepper

 

Envinate Garnacha Tintorera Albahra 2019

• Vino de Mesa
• 75% Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet), 25% Moravia Agria
• Practicing organic
• 30-year-old head-pruned vines
• Fermented 50% whole cluster with native yeasts in 45HL concrete tanks
• 7-day maceration
• Aged 8 months in same concrete tanks before bottling with low SO2
• 94 points WA
• Cherry skin, crushed rose, Tasmanian pepper berry

 

Goyo Garcia Viadero Joven de Viña Viejas 2018

• Ribera del Duero
• 100% Tempranillo
• 40-year-old vines
• Organic viticulture
• Fermented in stainless steel with 3-month maceration
• Aged entirely in tank, no oak
• Bottled unfiltered, unfined, and with no additional SO2
• Tart plum, pressed violet, Lapsang Souchong

 

 

A Tour of South African Wine Regions

South Africa is in the midst of a wine renaissance. Gone are the days of tarry Pinotage and insipid, over-cropped Chenin Blanc. The new South Africa has tension, verve, and style to spare as young producers chip fresh regional identities from unforgiving sandstone, granite, and shale. Ent-like old vines are finding contemporary homes, while acres of young vines are planted in wine regions that hardly existed 15 years ago. The shop just received a baboon-load of very exciting South African wines, so let’s take a tour of the wheres-its and wines of the Western Cape.

Stellenbosch

Just a few miles east of Capetown, Stellenbosch is the most planted wine region in South Africa, with almost 20% of the country’s vineyards. The weather is hot and dry, allowing local vintners to ripen a wide range of varieties with low disease pressure. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted variety, followed by the aforementioned, much-maligned Pinotage. The blistering heat is moderated by proximity to the ocean, and some vineyard owners are expanding their plantings of white varieties close to the ocean. Mick and Jeanine Craven source their skin contact Pinot Gris from an eastern facing site in Stellenbosch, fermenting it like a red wine in open bins with pump-overs and punch-downs. Pale red in the glass, with hints of cherry and watermelon, this will upend your preconceptions about both South Africa and Pinot Gris.

Swartland

The Swartland, northwest of Stellenbosch on the western edge of the Cape, was traditionally a wheat-growing country rather than a source for fine wines. The vineyards of the region were rustic and overcropped, with many of the grapes going to co-ops or fortified wine production. Eben Sadie, of Sadie Family Wines, was one of the first winemakers to see the region’s potential, moving there in 1997, and now the Swartland is one of the most important wine regions in South Africa. Sadie’s spicy Rhone reds and complex, old vine whites (check out the Palladius, a blend of almost a dozen different varieties) have become benchmarks for the Swartland, as well as for South Africa as a whole. Old bush vine Chenin blanc is also one of the region’s signatures. Check out the Storm Point Chenin Blanc for a firm, lemony expression, or try the A.A. Badenhorst Secateurs for a richer straw and lanolin bottling that recalls Vouvray.

Hemel-en-Aarde

As South Africa’s warmer regions began to receive acclaim, producers have pushed towards the coast, seeking more marginal maritime climates that extend the growing season and allowing them to focus on cooler climate varieties like Pinot noir and Chardonnay. Hamilton Russel’s founders were among the first to plant the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley (which means heaven and earth) back in the mid-’70s. Today many other producers have followed them to the southern end of the Cape. Pop a bottle of Lelie van Saron Syrah from Natasha Williams for an iron-flecked, darkly fruited spice bomb.

Songdagskloof

Just north of the Hemel-en-Aarde (to be fair, almost everything is north of there) is the new, hard to pronounce region of Songdagskloof. The soils here have more clay, which slows ripening further. The region has become known for its lean, aromatic Sauvignon Blanc. Trizanne Barnard ferments half of her Songdagskloof Sauvignon blanc on the skins, creating texture and pithiness, while she whole cluster presses the other half for a more traditional white expression. The result has all the citrus lift and phenolic bite of a half-peeled white grapefruit.

Elgin

Johan “Stompie” Meyer battles elevation, baboon raids, and unforgiving shale soils to craft crunchy, whole cluster, low sulfur Pinot noirs in one of South Africa’s most exciting new regions. His new plantings are cooler and higher than almost any other vineyards in the country, and a snappy acidity and arcing energy pervade his cuvees. His Palmiet is red-fruited and chewy, with black cherry skin and anise seed, while his experimental No SO2 and Carbonic cuvees push the limits of zero-gravity raspberry weightlessness. Elsewhere in the Cape South Coast, Thorne and Daughters Copper Pot Pinot Noir offers one of the finest values we carry, with wild strawberry, black loam, whole bunch sap, and real Pinot typicity for only $26.

Bot River

Finally, the Bot River is known for minerally white wines that continue to flip the traditional narrative of heavy, ponderous South African wines. The local scrubland known as ‘fynbos’ provides a resinous thyme and pine herbaceousness, not unlike the garrigue of southern France. The Anysbos Disdit White, a blend of 60% Chenin blanc with Roussane and Marsanne, makes the Rhone comparison explicit, with mouthwatering lemon curd, marzipan, orange zest, raw almond, dry honey, and fresh sage. Can’t wait to try some of their goat cheese!

 

We have been very impressed by the diversity and ingenuity of South Africa’s winemakers. Much like recent revolutions in well-established new world wine regions like Australia and California, The South Africans are willing to stick to orthodoxy and a safe bet. Let’s raise a glass to the whole cluster stompers, the skin contact-ers, and the terroir pioneers. Cheers!

 

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