Vinos Pinol

On June 30, Acton Wine & Spirit Co. hosted a special wine tasting with six Spanish winemakers. This was an exceptional event. I am going to address each of the Spanish winemakers and their wines in their own post.

The third winemaker I met was Juanjo Galcera Pinol of Bodegas Vinos Pinol. Also check out their websites at Vinos Pinol and Casa Pinol. This winery was founded in 1954 and is located in Terra Alta, a few miles southwest of Priorat. Terra Alta has a warmer microclimate so their wines are generally more full bodied and richer. They also have some old vines, of several different varietals, and engage in many organic practices. Juanjo was as personable and helpful as the other winemakers. I continued to enjoy talking to these men.

Juanjo brought three different wines with him, each with its own merits.

2005 Vinos Pinol Ludovicus ($9.99)--This wine is made of 35% Garnacha, 30% Tempranillo, 25% Syrah, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. It is aged for three months in French and American oak. They also only make 4000 cases of this wine. This is a lush and fruit wine, very pleasing to the palate. There are many different berry flavors meshing quite well together. It is an every day wine, and one you could easily drink alone. An excellent value wine.

2004 Vinos Pinol Portal Tinto ($14.99)--This is a more complex wine than the Ludovicus. The Portal consists of 30% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Garnacha, 10% Syrah, and 10% Tempranillo. It also sees 6 months in French, American and Hungarian oak. Only 3050 cases were made. This wine has black cherry and blackberry flavors but they are more subdued. There is also a strong current of spice as well as some earthy undertones. It is a well balanced wine that is sure to please. At this price, it is a bargain!

2005 Vinos Pinol Sacra Natura ($17.99)--This wine is a step up from the Portal. It is comprised of 60% Carinena and 40% Tempranillo. It sees 6 months in French, American and Hungarian oak. Only 3000 cases are made. This was a WOW wine. Very complex and harmonious in its flavors. Nice fruit and spice, with tinges of chocolate and coffee. A long lingering finish. A definite recommendation.

They make several other wines and I will definitely hunt them down to try as well.

Kudos to Juanjo Galcera Pinol.

Ladera Sagrada

On June 30, Acton Wine & Spirit Co. hosted a special wine tasting with six Spanish winemakers. This was an exceptional event. I am going to address each of the Spanish winemakers and their wines in their own post.

I next moved on to meet Pedro Alvarez of the Ladera Sagrada winery of the Valdeorras D.O. This winery was founded in 1920 and they grow only two varietals, Godello and Mencia. Most of the vines are over 25 years old. Pedro was very personable and passionate. It was very enjoyable to speak with him.

He only had one wine available for tasting, the 2006 Ladera Sagrada Papa ($13.99). This white wine is made of 100% Godello. It sees no oak and also does not see any malolactic fermentation. I am very picky about my white wines but this wine impressed me. It is light yellow in color and has a nose of green apples. There is also a strong flavor of green apples on the palate, along bit a bit of pear. It has a nice crispness to it with a tinge of minerality. It is a very interesting wine and certainly would make good drinking on a summer day. A good value white wine.

Pedro did tell me that they are making a red wine, made from the Mencia varietal, will eventually be made available in the U.S. I am a fan of the Mencia grape, usually tasting such wines from the Bierzo D.O. If Ladera Sagrada does so well with the Godello, I look forward to their Mencia wine.

Kudos to Pedro Alavarez!

Castellar, Vinos Sin Ley, and Bellum

On June 30, Acton Wine & Spirit Co. hosted a special wine tasting with six Spanish winemakers. This was an exceptional event. I am going to address each of the Spanish winemakers and their wines in their own post.

I began my tasting at a table with wines from Castellar, Vinos Sin Ley and Bellum wines. I also met Emili Esteve Punti, winemaker and entrepeneur, who must be a very busy man as he is involved in various wineries throughout Spain.

He is the winemaker at Celler Vilafranca in Penedes which makes Cavas. He is also a winemaker at the joint venture of Bellum in the Yecla region which makes Monastrell based wines. In addition, he is the co-creator of Vinos Sin Ley ("Wines without laws") which is an innovative company that creates value driven and unconventional wines all across Spain. Vinos Sin Ley makes many interesting wines. Emili is involved in winemaking of some of these wines too.

Emili spoke very little English but luckily there was a member, Liria, of the North Shore Winers who spoke Spanish and translated for us. If she had not been present though, there were others present who could translate. Emili was very personable and charismatic. It was quite a pleasure to meet and speak with him. He also makes some superior wines. I got to taste eight of his wines.

NV Castellar Cava ($9.99)-Cava is Spanish sparkling wine, made like French Champagne but usually made with indigenous Spanish varietals such as Xarel-lo, Macabeo, and Paralleda. This Castellar is made of 60% Xarel-lo, 20% Macabe0, and 20% Parellada. This Cava, like most, is fruitier than Champagne and lacks that typical yeasty flavor. I much prefer Cava to Champagne as I don't care for that yeasty flavor. Plus, Cava is generally much less expensive than Champagne. I have had this Castellar before and love it. It has a nice fruity flavor with a crisp tang. It is also a great value.

NV Castellar Cava Rose ($9.99)--This Cava Rose is made of 70% Trepat and 30% Garnacha. Trepat is an indigenous Spanish grape and one I had not heard of before this tasting. It seems Trepat is mainly used to make Cava Roses. This was an interesting fruity Rose having more of an Old World flair. Thus, the flavors are more subtle and there is a tinge of sweetness. A very interesting option for a sparkling wine. Once again, another good value.

2005 Vinos Sin Ley Zestos ($7.00)--This wine comes from the Madrid D.O. and is made from 50% Tempranillo and 50% Garnacha. It is aged in stainless steel tanks so there is no oak flavors. This is a fruity red wine, somewhat reminiscent of Pinot Noir, and has a fruity aroma. It is a simple wine but with character. And a definite bargain at this price.

2005 Vinos Sin Ley Zestos Especial ($8.99)--This wine also comes from the Madrid D.O. but is made from 85% Tempranillo and 15% Syrah. It too sees no oak. This was an exceptional wine for its price. It has nice fruit flavors with spicy undertones. It shows more complexity than the basic Zestos and many of my friends favored this wine.

2004 Vinos Sin Ley G-2 Monstant ($7.99)--This is one of the six Garnacha based wines made by Vinos Sin Ley. The G-2 is made in the Montsant D.O. of 100% Garnacha. I enjoyed this wine very much. It has some nice dark berry flavors with a bit of spice and earth. It is a smooth and easy drinking wine. Another good value wine which is going to be common to all of these wines.

2005 Bellum Providencia ($17.99)--We now come to one of my favorite varietals, Monastrell. This wine comes from the Yecla D.O. and is 100% Monastrell from 85-90 year old vines. The wine spends eight months in French Oak. This is a limited production wine as only 800 cases are made. I loved this wine! It was strong, full-bodied with a complex melange of dark fruit, spice and earthiness. A great expression of Monastrell.

2005 Bellum el Principio ($19.99)--This wine is very similar to the Providencia. It too is 100% old vine Monastrell, with eight months in oak and only 800 cases were made. It seemed though a bit earthier than the Providencia.

2004 Bellum El Remate ($32.99)--This late harvest wine is a dessert wine. It too is 100% old vine Monastrell, with eight months in oak but only 300 cases were made. This was a phenomenal wine, a full bodied, dark and sweet wine. It was not cloyingly sweet. I bought some chocolate to taste with this wine and it paired up perfectly. This would be a great accompaniment to any chocolate dessert. This is a more expensive wine but it is well worth the price.

Overall, I was impressed with all of these wines. Most of them were inexpensive and good values. Though some were simple wines they had character and this thus elevated them above similarly priced wines.

Kudos to Emili Esteve Punti!

Spanish Winemakers Tasting

Patrick Mata of Ole Imports (bottom center), David Sampedro of Bodegas Vinedos de Aldeanueva (left middle), Pedro Alvarez of Ladera Sagrada (right middle), and the top row, from left to right is Carmen Sebastian of Falset Marca, Diego Magana of Bodegas Vina Magana, Myself, Juanjo Galcera Pinol of Bodegas Vinos Pinol, and Emili Esteve Punti of Vinos Sin Ley, Bellum and Castellar.



On June 30, from 2-5pm, Acton Wine & Spirit Co. hosted a special wine tasting with six Spanish winemakers. I attended this event with other members of The North Shore Winers. This was an exceptional event and my entire group very much enjoyed themselves.

There were twenty wines available for tasting, and I tried them all. This was considered a value wine tasting as nearly all of the wines cost less than $20. There were Cavas, white wines, red wines and even one dessert wine. There was even a generous 20% discount if you bought six or more bottles. And at these value prices, you could definitely afford to buy a bunch.

Patrick Mata, a CEO of Ole Imports, helped to arrange for this special tasting. Ole Imports began in 1999 and now imports over 100 Spanish wines to the US. Their portfolio includes wines from all over Spain, including areas much less known. Ole Imports seek Spanish wine with three common attributes: "quality, value, and terroir." In Massachusetts, their Distributor is Ruby Wines, Inc. If you go to any wine store and check out their Spanish wines, look at the back label and you might see that the wine was imported by Ole Imports. If so, you probably have found a good tasting value wine.

I did have an opportunity to speak a little with Patrick and he was very personable and helpful. It is also obvious he is passionate about wine. In fact, I found much passion for wine at this event.

I met and spoke with all six of the Spanish winemakers, including: David Sampedro of Bodegas Vinedos de Aldeanueva, Pedro Alvarez of Ladera Sagrada, Carmen Sebastian of Falset Marca, Diego Magana of Bodegas Vina Magana, Myself, Juanjo Galcera Pinol of Bodegas Vinos Pinol, and Emili Esteve Punti of Vinos Sin Ley, Bellum and Castellar. They all possessed much passion for wine! Plus, they were very personable, charismatic and helpful. It was such a pleasure to speak with all of them.

To do each winemaker and their wines justice, I will address them in separate posts.

Besides the wines, there was also some food to nibble on, including Serrano ham, Chorizo, a couple Spanish cheeses and crackers. All of this was delicious and the Serrano ham went very fast. The Chorizo had a nice spicy taste.

The tasting was well organized and seemed to run very smoothly. I did not hear any complaints from anyone. It was not overly crowded so you did not have to wait long at all to taste the wines and talk with the winemakers. This was an excellent opportunity to taste some good Spanish wine, to learn more about Spanish wine, and to talk with the winemakers. I am very glad I attended this event and will look forward to future events hosted by Acton Wine & Spirit Co.

Acton Wine & Spirit Co.

I have been receiving email newsletters from Ken Kirk of Acton Wine & Spirit Co. for some time. Ken is the Store Manager and Wine Director. The newsletters are very good, describing new and interesting wines and listing upcoming special events. If you are not on their email list, you definitely should sign up.

I had not visited the wine store though until yesterday. I went to the store to attend a special tasting with six Spanish winemakers. (I will describe that tasting in detail in later posts). I will say though that this was an exceptional event and Ken deserves much kudos for arranging this tasting.

As to the store itself, it is very easy to find, just off Rt. 2 on Rt.27 in a small strip mall. It is well worth the visit. The store is good-sized with plenty of wine, beer and spirits. They have a very large selection of everything, and prices seem average. But, they do have a generous discount program. If you purchase at least six bottles, you get a 10% discount. That is good as most wine stores do not give you a discount unless you buy at least 12 bottles. If you do buy 12 bottles, you discount rises to 15%. And if you buy 24 bottles or more, your discount is 20%. These discounts apply to mixed selections. In addition, they do place items on sale each month.

They have small wine tastings on many Saturdays from 2-5pm. They also have special wine tastings are various times, some which include winemakers. If you get their email newsletter, you will get advance notice of these tastings.

I spoke with and interacted with several members of the staff at the store and all were very friendly and helpful. If you have any questions about wine, they will definitely try to answer and help you. Ken Kirk definitely possesses a passion for wine, which is a sign of a good wine store.

If you are in the Acton area, check out this wine store. It is also worth taking a ride to check out the store. It is really not that far away and is certainly easy to get to. Definitely sign up for their email newsletter. You won't be disappointed.

Acton Wine & Spirit Co.
305 Main St. (Route 27)
Acton, MA
Phone: (978) 263-9060