Cooperativa La Viña, D.O Valencia. 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 40% Tempranillo; 10% Merlot; 10% Syrah.
Did you know that for the majority of Spanish wines, the vineyard would have bought the grapes at well below one euro per kilo, sometimes even below 50 centimos?
The tradition of vineyard cooperatives was born out of the farmers’ reasonable aspiration to get a fair deal for their crops. In Spain in particular, with its delicate post, civil war conditions in the 1940s and 50s, had the vineyard owners not formed cooperatives, it is highly likely many vines would have withered and the land abandoned.
This month, our wine comes from the Cooperativa La Viña, founded in 1944 in Terres dels Alforins, ancient lands in the south of the province of Valencia, that would have inspired impressionist painters, lands that host some of the best Valencian wines. La Viña counts with 1500 associates from different municipalities: La Font de La Figuera, Fontanars dels Alforins, Moixent, Villena, Ontinyent and Ayora. La Font de La Figuera, are owners of 2,400 of the 4,000 hectares of vineyards associated with Terres dels Alforins. One of its labels, Juan de Juanes, is named after the 16th century renaissance painter, who came from La Font de La Figuera.
However, we focus on one of its flagship wines, Venta del Puerto Nº12. It came highly recommended by the head waiter of a famous fish restaurant in Valencia. At first it seemed like an odd choice, but we were not at all disappointed. An unusual blend of four major grapes, like putting four top-celebrity actors on stage at the same time, yet the result is a very cooperative and harmonious, we get the best of all worlds, perhaps thanks to the softening effect of the 12 months; the four spent together in American oak barrels, followed by another six months in the bottle.
The wine in a clean, vibrant and intense dark cherry-red colour, the 12 months in oak do not obscure its youth. The nose is enveloping with complex aromas, we first noted the vanilla followed by notes of ripe, black fruit (blackberry and currant), jammy-sweet, red fruit, balsamic, chocolate and gentle coffee aromas.
Although American oak has a reputation for being dominant, here it results in complex wine, very fruity and with just right wood support. In the mouth, powerful, long-lasting, smooth, sweet and meaty tannins, perfectly integrated acidity, which gives it freshness and highlights the presence of ripe fruit. A delightful wine.
Open the bottle an hour or so before consuming, served it slightly chilled at 16ºC with medium cheese; rabbit stew; couscous with vegetables stew, or calamar en salsa.
92 Bruja points. EUR 9.00-13.00 from https://www.labarricavinos.com/ or directly from the bodega https://www.ventadelpuerto.com/ or from El Cortes Inglés.