Is it just me or are producers letting go of traditional bottling based on corresponding varietals? IE: narrow bottles for Bordeaux grapes, fat bottles for Burgundy varieties. Who in the world pigeonholed wine grapes into their “genie” bottle? Even if you aren’t versed with wine, the flood of bottle shapes at your local market has been all too familiar to the eye for centuries. That’s already a handicap for anyone who wishes to explore the whole wide world of wine. When you think about it, the number ONE goal for ANY wine producer, especially these days, has been to sell their label. I strongly believe they’ll continue to miss their goal by maintaining MARKETING traditions that aren’t relevant anymore. Notice I stated MARKETING, NOT maintaining WINEMAKING traditions. Identifying wine bottles against the next one is like looking at a Police Line-Up; overwhelming and ultimately confusing! With all that said, one look at these two bottles immediately sparked my interest. The shape of it and the child’s play labeling fueled the question about their backstory. Wine producers, take note!
Laws are meant to be broken. Collectively, citizens gather together in their local governments and rally to make a change. Today, the wine industry is the most economically and organically changing industry in the world. Collectively, growers, winemakers, producers, negociants, importers/exporters are rallying aggressively as of late, to change dated principles that handicap growth. I stand by that! For me technology is just one convenient component that has moved wine around the globe that has identified cultures and societies since B.C. …I respect why there are wine laws related to every country. If they weren’t in place it would be like the 1958 short film “HOLIDAY FROM RULES?”…..for your analogous entertainment watch it here!
HOLIDAY FROM RULES
Eladio Piñeiro is clearly making up his own rules separating himself from the herd. There are very few things that will catch our eye these days because we have become immune to our pattern. Wines like these are creating discord and finally securing an alliance for creativity. It’s exciting to perk up upon looking at a bottle of wine and then wonder…. It’s Like staring into a Genie’s bottle and desiring to party with him like a rock star! Many producers too are experimenting with varieties that really traditional wouldn’t make sense, but they do with Piñeiro!
Eladio Piñeiro founded BODEGAS MAR DE FRADES in 1983 in Rias Baixas DO before it gained the status of an official appellation. Located in the green belt of the northwestern half of Spain, Piñeiro mainly wanted to produce wines from the classic grape of the region, Albarino. However, in 2003, Piñeiro sold the winery but with street smarts, he maintained ownership of the vineyards. With family support he began a new gamble, ADEGA FAMILIAR; (roughly and appropriately translates to, “Family Wine House”, vinifying white and red wines. The family thought to themselves what a LOCO to believe in being different and succeeding. Obviously, he was firmly supported by his family, by their proud roots and history.
Here from my review, you can get a morsel of a red from Portuguese Alentejo, and a white from Albariño Rías Baixas. The dose of authenticity reflected in the wines doesn’t taste like he had a holiday from rules. Piñeiro is not trying to be a rebel, rather he is confident to set an example for winemakers internationally.
The grapes are sourced from three key regions, Rías Baixas for Albariño, Alentejo for red grape varieties, and Orujo where some Aqua Vitae is made. When it comes to the process of winemaking, certain biodynamic practices are followed.
LA COARTADA 2009
Blend: 80% Aragonez, 15% Alicante Bouschet, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine spends fully four years in oak casks then onto stainless steel tanks, where it spends an additional three years prior to bottling. We are talking seven years of aging before it hits your lips! The 2009 vintage comes in a potent 14.5% alcohol. It intoxicates you with a ripe bouquet of black cherries, a kiss of cassis, subtle baking spice, along with meaty tones on the mid-palate, followed by milk chocolate, and a pretty foundation of vanillin oak. The wine is deep, full-bodied, and velvety. Give it another 10 years of age and you’ll be rewarded with ALL the rules that were meant to be broken. There’s such an elegant core of fruit, good focus, and long heated legs like Heidi Klum for a model memorable finish.
ALBARINO ENVIDIA COCHINA 2018 RIAS BAIXAS
The name means “the envy of the worm”, the pithy Spanish way of conveying that “I want to be in your shoes when good things are happening”. This is the “second” wine, which Eladio resisted making for years, but debuted with the 2011 vintage. It spends six months on the lees in stainless steel, with weekly batonnage, and is then blended with 15% Frore de Carme from the previous vintage and held a year in the bottle before release. It’s a high-speed Albariño; like my favorite muscle car, the 2021 Corvette Stingray! It’s loaded with honeycomb and a punch of tropical fruit, yet with a balmy serious note of toasted yeasty bread, sprinkled with balsamic sweetness and finished with sophisticated mineral length. This is a beauty to admire from afar and up close
Eladio Piñeiro, I knight you to an elevated title in the “government” of different wines across the globe. Winemakers, I employ you not to be afraid to still embrace winemaking traditions but standby visionary individualism. No consumer wants to identify you like the rest of the other wines.
ANY THOUGHTS FOR A BIG CONVERSATION OVER SEVERAL BOTTLES OF UNIQUE WINES!
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Thank you and remember Taste Small Live Big!
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