The "Cutting Edge" of Spanish Wine: Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo 2015

Spanish winemakers, beginning in the 1980's, began to focus on the more powerful, fruity wines that the market was rewarding. That is no longer the case, according to Pedro Ballesteros Torres, with the latest trends being:

• Diversification and re-creation in Rioja and Jerez
• New, emergent wine regions dislodging former leading lights
• Grape varieties other than Tempranillo competing in the market place
• An impressive range and quality of white wines
• An emphasis on authenticity, freshness, and balance
• Organic and biodynamic vineyards. 

Wines from Spain has identified eight wines that it sees as being at the vanguard of this movement: Tajinaste Blanco 2018, Quinta da Muradella Blanco 2015, Edetària Selecció Blanc Vinyes Velles 2016, Conde de los Andes Rioja Blanco 2016, Guimaro Finca Meixemann 2017, AN/2 by Anima Negra 2017, Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo 2015, and Parés Baltà Hisenda Miret 2017.  In this post I will cover the Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo 2015.

The Vineyard
Bodegas Mustiguillo Finca Terrerazo is made from Bobol grapes sourced from El Terrarazo, the estate's single-vineyard site. El Terrarazo was granted Vino de Pago status -- the highest level in the Spanish appellation system -- in 2010.

Spanish wine appellation system
(Source:https://www.winescholarguild.org/)

Vino de Pago requirements are as follows:

• The site must be a single vineyard
• The vineyard must be owned by the estate producing the wine
• The vineyard must fall within a registered DO
• The vineyard must demonstrate unique characteristics that make it worthy of accessing that status

El Terrerazo is one of 19 Vino de Pagos and the first in the Communidad Valenciana. Its geographic location is indicated by the two red circles in the map below and its characteristics in the chart immediately following.

As would be expected of a "vanguard-wine" estate, Bodegas Mustiguillo ticks a number of boxes in terms of the Spanish wine trends identified by Pedro Ballesteros Torres:

• New emergent wine region (Utiel-Requena)
• Grape varieties beyond Tempranillo (Bobol)
• Organic and biodynamic vineyards (Organic)
• Winemaking emphasis on authenticity, freshness and balance (Bobol; move away from American oak in earlier vintages to French oak for more recent ones).

As regards farming practices, El Terrarazo is certified organic, employing cover crops such as mustard, radish, legumes, and Mediterranean spices between rows. The Gobelet-trained vines are not irrigated.

The Bobal Cultivar
Bobal is a red variety indigenous to the Utiel-Requena region of Valencia. It is the second most planted red grape variety in Spain and, while traditionally used as a bulk wine, has recently been gaining serious attention as the basis for quality wines.

The vine is vigorous and productive, with long, trailing shoots which are normally trained as a low bush. Being of the region, it is resistant to extremes of weather and disease.

The branches are medium-large and compact with an angular cone shape. The must is high in colorant, tannins, and polyphenols while the finished wine tends to be fruity, low in alcohol, and high in acid.

Winemaking and the Wine
The grapes are hand-harvested and placed into 15-kg boxes (The first-order selection occurs here). The selected grapes are transported to the cellar where they are de-stemmed and sorted prior to a gentle crushing. Wines from each parcel are fermented in separate 35 Hl or 50 Hl French oak tanks using house yeasts. Fermentation -- with gentle punch-downs -- occurs over a 9-day period followed by an 11-day post-fermentation maceration, followed, in turn, by a 5 - 8 week malolactic fermentation with batonnage.

The wine is aged for 14 months in a mix of small (225 L and 550 L) and large (30 Hl and 50 Hl) French oak barrels after which they are blended and bottled without stabilization or filtration.

Notes: Waxy, red fruit, perfumed, and a resin character on the nose. Black/red fruit on the palate. Flat and non-complex. Soft tannins.


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