La Zorra Rufete Teso 2014
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
Bright cherry color with notes of ripe red fruit and green tea with a floral nose. The wine is light, fresh and balanced with a long finish and lively acidity.
Pairs with tapas, cheeses, grilled and other meats.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A new wine apparently produced for the American market with Rufete grapes, the 2014 Teso de la Media Fanega, fermented in small stainless steel vats and matured in French oak barrels for four months. It has a similar profile to the Raro, but felt a little more approachable and open, with aromas and flavors of small red berries and an effervescent palate with lively acidity that make it vibrant, accessible and very apt for the table. I'm tempted to think the two wines are nearly the same, but the bottle of Raro was slightly better.
The Sierra de Francia, near the Portuguese border due west from Madrid, holds a unique treasure: the Rufete grape, a rare indigenous variety (that is also planted in central Portugal). This grape is at the heart of the Sierra de Salamanca D.O., a tiny viticultural area and one of the youngest D.O.s. Within this denomination, La Zorra is distinguished as the most quality-driven, forward-thinking winery.
Agustin Maillo is dedicated to elevating the native grape of his home to the status it deserves. The owner of a restaurant in the small town of Mogarraz, his family has always made a little wine, but it was only a few years ago that Agustin decided to start working on a commercial scale. From 60+-year-old vines on granite and slate soils, he carefully crafts three cuvées.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.