April 2025 Blanco Y Tinto Club

Finca Torremilanos 2021  Peñalba López Regular Price: $24.99 Club Price: $21.24 Buy Now

The Spanish producer Finca Torremilano is one of our staple producers by virtue of us selling their everyday red wine called Los Cantos, a clarete called Ojo de Gallo, and a juicy fresh Tempranillo carbonico called El Porron de Lara.  All are stellar, but Los Cantos’ pretty, burgundy style bottle with a burgundy label containing a ripe, quaffable blend of Tempranillo, Merlot and Syrah remains a customer and staff favorite year after year. Its blend is a bit of a departure from the usual Ribera del Duero choice of 100% Tempranillo. The Ribera del Duero area isn’t much known for white wines, hence we don’t seek out white wines from this region actively.  It was thus a surprise when we tasted the Penalba Lopez, a white wine we didn’t know Finca Torremilanos made, only to be delighted by a delicious and unusual wine worthy of showcasing in this month’s club.  Not all Spanish whites have to be Albarino, Godello, or Garnacha Blanca, it turns out.

"Pablo Peñalba López acquired the Finca Torremilanos estate in 1975 with 60 hectares of vines (now grown to almost 200 hectares of vineyards)—seven years before Ribera del Duero was even recognized as an appellation. He immediately began producing estate-bottled wines of remarkable quality, moving away from the former practice of selling bulk grapes to the local co-op. Pablo continued to develop and showcase the potential of the land across a wide range of soils (sand, rounded river stones, clay, limestone) and exposures.", we are told by accounts of the winery's history as retold by importer Skurnik.  

According to their account of the history of the estate, the matriarch is the one who really makes it happen: “Pilar Pérez Albéniz, one of the most respected women in the region and winner of the inaugural ‘Ribera Heritage’ Award in 2019, is still at the helm, with two of her sons, Ricardo and Vicente, handling winemaking and sales respectively.” Ricardo, stepping into his father’s role starting in about 2000, began investigating organic and biodynamic farming methods, including returning to horse-plowing, hand picking, and native-yeast fermentation. In 2015 they became the first in the appellation to be Demeter certified. Since 1988 they have even produced their own barrels of French and American oak at their in-house cooperage.  And, last but not least, Torremilanos also runs a hotel that is known for its great location, wonderful service, and fantastic combination of comfortable beds, a pool, and interesting winery tours.  Stop by next time you’re halfway between Madrid and Burgos!

While Finca Torremilanos produces their red wines from within the Ribera del Duero DO, they source the grapes for this white wine from vineyards outside the boundaries of the DO.  Due to this, this wine is labelled with the Castilla Y Leon VT qualification.  The grapes, an unusual blend of Tempranillo Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc and Viura are grown in estate-owned biodynamically farmed vineyards ranging from 20 years old (for the Sauv Blanc), 60 years old for the Tempranillo Blanco to 180 years old (for the Viura). 

Image courtesy and (c) Finca Torremilanos

The wine is fermented in large oak barrels, then aged for 11 months in french oak barrels on the lees.  The result is as close to a warm hug on a cool summer night as any white wine has given me lately.  The nose is described by the winery perfectly.  It’s a great lesson in Spanish and it’s spot-on: ”aromas de anís, miel, flores de almendro y lila, así como notas de membrillo, frutos secos y manzanilla junto con un elegante fondo mineral”, which means aromas of anise, honey, almond and lily blossoms, with notes of dried fruit, quince paste and chamomile.  Wow, a feast for the senses.  

On the palate it is fresh and juicy, with great mid-palate volume and viscosity.  It’s a mix of dried pear and a touch of grapefruit citrus, but of the dried kind.  It’s a darker yellow in color, and has the patina of a nicely aging white.  There are several newer vintages of this wine already in the market, and at first we were worried about this being past its prime. It turns out after tasting newer vintages that the aging contributes a honeyed, slightly candied fruit quality that adds to its overall appeal.  The vanilla and oak flavors are subtle but are supported by plenty of fresh fruit and lively acid.  This will pair very well with white fish dishes or even grilled white meats.  I can picture it next to a Sole with a light cream sauce and capers as well as next to a delightful charred pork cutlet fresh off a wood-fired grill.  As good as this tastes now, I'd drink it.  Future vintages are sure to join the regular rotation of the other Finca Torremilanos wines on our shelves.

Almaroja 2019 Pirita Crianza Regular Price: $46.99 Club Price: $39.94 Buy Now

Have you ever met someone whom you liked right away, on impulse? Sure you have.  And then, as you got to know them, did they become more and more likable, validating your initial hunch?  I have.  And, if wine were a person, the 2019 Almaroja La Pirita would be such a person.  This month’s wine club lineup was almost complete, with us looking for just one more wine, and in walks La Pirita (in the bag of one of our wine reps).  It was love at first taste, but not just because of its initial impression of great, fruit-forward juice, but because everything we have learned about the wine since has only made us like it more. First of all, being different always always adds a layer of interest – and La Piritia is different.  She hails from what some call the ‘wild west of Spain’, the Arribes DO.  

The Arribes region sits on the banks of the river Duero (the same as in Ribera del Duero and the same as the Duoro in Portugal) on the very westernmost edge of Spain.  The region includes a large natural park which features the river Duero winding through giant granite rocks, imposing yet at the same time inviting. It’s a region that looks wild and natural, and visit-worthy.

Image courtesy iStock/

It’s also not like the mainstream wine region with their thousands of acres of mainstream grapes. Grapes grown in Arribes are a far cry from the Tempranillos and Garnachas of elsewhere. Here in the land of Spain’s setting sun, it’s Juan Garcia, Bruñal, Rufete, and lots of other grape varietals that go into field blends.  

La Pirita’s maker is unusual and intriguing as well.  Winemaker Charlotte Allen of Bodega Almaroja is an English expat living in the village of Fermoselle, at the far western edge of Spain. She makes her wines from 75+ year old organic vineyards, co-fermenting these field blends, which contain up to 16 different red and white varietals that few have heard of. Her average yield is about a half ton per acre– so very little she might as well be squeezing blood from the giant granite boulders next to the Duero. In the vineyard, Charlotte tends the vines herself. Everything is organic, and she adheres to some biodynamic practices and calendars. Treatments for disease, when needed, are taken care of with botanical blends (such as sage and nettle).  In some ways, Charlotte conjures up more of an image of a wine sage, a bruja (of the good kind), a home wine maker gone pro than the slick, 4th generation trained enologists we often encounter at the big gleaming wineries further east.  If an Instagram feed is in any way a reflection of a person, then hers is a treasure trove of a well-balanced life, well-lived.  Rather than polished marketing glossies, she posts a variety of impressions from her life as a Spanish wild west winemaker.  There are vineyards, grapes, punchdowns, all the things one expects from a winemaker Insta. And there are also those things that make Charlotte real:  kittens, cats, fresh salads, wines she admires, pictures of (her) 12 year old son as he grows older, freshly harvested fall fruit, and even a post about a pallet of wine bottles that has slid off the truck (along with some salty English not fit for the polite company that’s reading this).  All in all, she's just a very loveable-at-first sight winemaker.  

https://www.instagram.com/bodegaalmaroja/

But last not least, all is for nought if the wine doesn’t deliver.  And it does.  Once you get through the lovely red wax closure and get the cork out, it pours into the glass a dark red with a distinct note of purple.  The nose is not overly effusive, actually quite reserved and reminiscent of black cherry juice or blackthorne (also known as sloe) juice. Before you call me out for somm BS here, that is an actual thing, maybe more so in Germany, where I am from, than here.  It’s a dark, sour, very red juice somewhere between black cherry and concentrated red plum.  The nose of Pirita belies its mouthfeel, almost in a good way. Where wines with a big nose and lacking palate disappoint, wines with an understated nose and a big fruity body surprise and delight.  This is the case here.  The wine just explodes onto the palate with an almost electric energy.  Red fruits burst forth, concentrated roasted plum, cranberry, earthy dusty blueberry, and a solid acid core just make you want to take the next sip.  A subtle roasty toasty is there too, but less that of oak and more that of the natural smokiness that some Mencias deliver.  This is my kind of wine, and I hope it is yours too.  I am transported to the wild west of Spain, where I walk to the river gorge with my expert tour guide Charlotte to admire the huge granite boulder from which she has squeezed this divine juice with her bare hands.  ¡Salud! to new friends, women winemakers, and to you.