Best Winery & Wines of the Month

This month we choose bodegas Mitarte, in the Rioja Alavesa (Spain). Mitarte elaborates a variety of very personal wines from very varied and personal vineyards marked by the terroir and climate of the land with most recognition of Spain and vineyards passed from generation to generation. Their old family tradition is clearly exposed into wines with character and personality that range multiple styles, sampling all the autochthonous varieties of the area, including wines made with the natural coupages of grapes found in century old vineyards in their state.

Our red of the month comes from Bodegas Mitarte, it could not be otherwise. It is their top of the line Tempranillo, aged in oak barrels to gain a gracious structure and delicate balance between round tannins, good acidity and concentration of ripe fruit. For our white, we have chosen Morgaen Lee Sauvignon Blanc 2022 from Ghost Block Estate. These are Sauvignon Blanc grapes from their oldest block in the Morgaen Lee Vineyard located in Yountville, Napa Valley. It contains 3% of Semillon grapes to add complexity leading to an exceptional and refreshing white wine. Our rose of the month is actually not a rose, but a blanc de noirs. In other words, a white wine made out of red grapes, which ends slightly tainted and looks and tastes like a very delicate rose. It is made from Caiño grapes from vineyards managed in an effort of recovering ancestral varieties that have been traditional to the Rias Baixas in the north of Spain but that lost protagonism with the rise and recognition of Albariño. The sparkling of the month is actually a Blanc de Blanc, which is a white wine that has been made exclusively from white grapes. This is not a surprise, but with traditional sparkling wines, it is not that common, as many are made with a blend of red and white wines, following the old tradition of Champagne. This one is a 100% Chardonnay from Dr. Konstantin Frank's estate vineyards on Keuka Lake (Finger Lakes, NY). And we finally end with a natural wine that has seen skin contact. Made from Hondarrabi Zuri grapes, this Txakoli wine from the Basque Country in Spain has been elaborated by carbonic maceration with full clusters with grapes with skins. The ancestral elaboration for a white wine that leads to a very unique product that cannot be found anywhere else.

We hope that you enjoy our Wines of May!