Casta Diva Cosecha Real Solera - Moscatel Romano & co. (02)

Moscatel Romana / Alejandria | lager gelegen terras wijngaarden aan de de rand van de zee | late oogst | solera project gestart met 3 vaten in 2002 | vergisting start in staaltank, vertraagd door het toevoegen van wijnalcohol | dan overgeplaatst naar eikenhouten vaten | elk jaar wordt er 150 liter van de jongste wijn toegevoegd en de oudste wijn afgetapt uit het systeem | 391 flesjes geproduceerd | mediterraans | honing | getoaste amandel | sinaasappel | nougat | romig | fijne zuren | iets delicaat | oneindig

Gutérrez de la Vega 

Fantastische aanwinst in 2018!  Een bijzonder verhaal uit Alicante. De enige producent in Alicante die wijn nog op de ouderwetse methode wijn maakt. Volgens Felipé Gutierrez de la Vega was Alicante ooit het toonaangevende gebied om zoete wijnen (Fondillón) in Europa (omstreeks 1850). Dit waren onversterkte wijnen met natuurlijk alcohol van richting de 15%. Hij komt niet helemaal op één lijn met de Alicante D.O en besluit in 2010 in samenspraak met zijn dochter Violetta de D.O te verlaten.Violetta is Frankrijk getraind (Sauternes, Ch D'Yquem) en besluit in de laatste jaren de gisting niet te onderbreken door het gebruik van sulfiet maar door de wijnen licht te versterken met alcohol. De droge zomers van de afgelopen jaren zorgen voor een verlies in oogstvolume van wel 25%. Alle druiven worden hier (Monstrell en Moscatell) overrijp geplukt zodat ze aan de druivenstokken in kunnen drogen, een risico dat in droge jaren tot extreem kleine oogsten kan leiden. 

Review

I tasted the NV Casta Diva Cosecha Real 2002, which is not really a vintage wine, despite what they put on the labels; they bottle around 50 liters every year and replace it with wine from the latest vintage in what they describe as a solera, and therefore, it's a non-vintage wine for me. This is an exceptional wine that is getting nuttier as the average age of the wine increases and it keeps developing and slowly oxidizing in barrel. It's nuanced, deeper and more complex than the younger wines and has subtler aromas, with some biscuity character and notes of royal jelly, bay leaf and roasted coffee. The palate is soft and caressing, with bittersweet orange flavors and mild sweetness. Only 254 half-bottles were filled in 2017, and the back labels show lot number 5/2002, which I guess is the fifth bottling of this solera that started with wine from 2002. Luis Gutiérrez 95/100

Gutiérrez de la Vega is possibly the finest sweet wine producer in Spain. They are based in Jávea, in the heart of Alicante, but they left the appellation of origin after some disagreement on the style of the Fondillón wines. So, they cannot use the word Fondillón or even Alicante on their labels.

I tasted a collection of different styles of Moscatel, dry and sweet; and I also tasted some reds, including Fondillón-style sweet reds. They do very small bottlings of the different soleras from 2004, 1987, 1985, 1979 and 1978, of which my favorite this time was the 1987. It showed more finesse, less color and, in the style of yesteryear, was aged in larger casks.

After years of tension with the style of their Fondillón (and lately their sweet Moscatel too), Gutiérrez de la Vega has finally left the Alicante appellation. All the grapes are grown within the physical limits of the Alicante DO, but the wines are sold as varietal wines, whose vintage is certified by an independent body, not the Alicante appellation. His sweet red wines cannot be labeled as Fondillón either, as the name is used exclusively by the appellation. It's a shame an appellation lets one of its more important wineries go. As I visited their vineyards and cellars I had the chance to taste all the extremely limited cuvées which are bottled and sold in homeopathic doses. The best sweet wine producer in Spain?

Luis Gutiérrez 95/100