Simeta - Arcos (19)

Arcos | mediteraan druivenras uit Valencia e.o. | oude stokken (1970) op het hoogste punt in Tossal de Angel vallei | kalkrijk terras met zand en klei | gisting in beton met 70% whole buch | rijping in een mix van anfora, betonnen en oud hout | onzettend luchtig en puur | een stijl à la Dani Landi en Fedellos do Couto | puur en evenwichtig | unieke wijn! 

Javi Revert

New wave Spanje! Javi is gevestigd in het achterland van Valencia, Tossal de Angel. Waar de bodem kalkrijk is en waar de grote coöperaties heersen voor bulkwijn met hoge alcoholpercentages op het laaggelegen gebied. Javi heeft met zijn ervaring een paar percelen uitgekozen uit de oude familie vallei (fruit werd verkocht). De vallei ligt op een noord helling, redelijk hoog (650 m) en bestaat uit kalkrijke bodems. Hij werkt er volledig biodynamisch om het maximale uit de mediterrane druivenrassen te zoals: Tortosí, Trepadell, Malvasía, Merseguera, Verdil en Arcos te halen. Ook plant hij hoog gelegen op de helling een nieuwe terraswijngaard aan met Grenache noir en Arcos. Daarnaast een project met zijn goede vriend Victor Marquez in Utiel-Requena waar ze van twee percelen heerlijke pure rode sappige wijnen maken met een mediterrane touch! 

Review

The single-vineyard varietal Arcos 2018 Simeta was produced with this almost forgotten local variety from a vineyard planted in 1970. Arcos has a long cycle, large bunches and loose and large grapes with thick skins, wanting to be a representation of the Mediterranean. In 2018, the grapes were picked late (October 10th) and with good balance, this time using only grapes from the higher up part of the vineyard where the soils have more limestone (the lower part was used in Sensal). It fermented in concrete vats with 70% full clusters and indigenous yeasts. The 500-liter oak barrels were one year older and the élevage also longer, a further six months compared with previous years, 15 months in total. This is subtle with elegant austerity, insinuating and in need of some time in the glass or a decanter to start opening up. The nose is promising, but the palate is vibrant and lively, beautifully textured with very fine chalky tannins and great focus and purity, precise and symmetric, seamless and long. Arcos is a really interesting variety, it ripens even later than Monastrell and feels really adapted to the conditions of the Mediterranean. Amazing quality for the price. 1,600 bottles were filled in February 2020.

Javi Revert has finished his time at Celler del Roure after 11 years there, which had been a gradual process since 2018, and is focusing more on his personal project. In 2018, he was able to spend more time in his vineyards and pay attention to the soils so he could treat different plots differently, even harvesting parts of the same vineyard at different times. Furthermore, he has purchased a further two hectares of land that had belonged to his grandmother and is going to plant more new vineyards. All his vineyards and land are in the village of Font de la Figuera, 10 hectares in total, and he expects to harvest enough grapes to produce 25,000 bottles by 2025. Right now, he only makes 7,500 bottles. 2018 was not an easy vintage, but the wines are great, the best he has produced so far. He calls 2018 a more continental vintage, with finesse, freshness and texture. The wines are better than ever, and it seems like he's still on the way up, because the one wine I tasted from 2019, a really challenging year with 200 liters of rain in the middle of the harvest, is better than the 2018! On another front, he continues at La Comarcal with his friend and winemaker Víctor Marqués and has also accepted the job as winemaker for Finca Sandoval in Manchuela after the change in ownership. Luis Gutierrez 95/100