Vintus

No topsoil, old bush-vines going crazily every which way, native flora and fauna surrounding the vineyard – could it be – yes it is! Telmo Rodriguez in Ribera del Duero talking to an enraptured group of US distributors.

We love the map on Telmo Rodriguez’ website, designed by a friend of his, and depicting the wine regions he works in throughout Spain.  We wanted a nice high-resolution version so we would read it, and we love it even more now.  Beware of totally new extreme trout in Galicia!  And note that in Malaga the people are obsessed with an 18th century fabled sweet mountain wine and do nothing else but go on about it!

Click on the map below to download a large version.

Renowned Spanish winemaker Telmo Rodriguez recently attended the Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival, an annual and widely attended wine event that has been held since 1979. The festival’s theme changes each year, and this year’s focus was on wines from Spain.

In its coverage of the event, the local news publication Pique had the following to say about Telmo:

“By any measure, winemaker Telmo Rodriguez is a breath of fresh European air. Known for shunning traditional Spanish wine routes, Rodriguez has taken to the Spanish countryside to produce single-vineyard wines from lesser-known sites that technically appear to possess all the attributes required to make fine wine. By making wines outside the rules, he is able to take advantage of all the information available to the modern-day winemaker.

The Telmo Rodriguez Basa ($18) is a white wine from Rueda, where verdejo, once thought to be an unremarkable regional grape, is making waves. Basa, which loosely translates as “foundation,” expresses Rodriguez’s attempt to uncover the potential of Rueda and the lowly verdejo. Packed with grapefruit, mineral, gooseberry, passion fruit, melon rind and green apple flavours it is now under screw cap for complete reliability. Try it with sushi and you will soon be reaching for it regularly.”

Click here to read the full article

Telmo Rodriguez’s 2009 Gabo do Xil was written up in a New Zealand local newspaper today. Godello is an indigenous grape variety that hails from Valdeorras in Spain and the Xil is the Celtic name for the river Xil that runs through it.

Here is a snippet from the article:

“The Gaba Do Xil Godello 2009 is an absolute delight. A pale green-tinged straw-coloured wine it is packed full of tropical fruits and herbs. Most noticeable are flavours of grapefruit, pineapple and apricot with melon and white peach in the background. It’s medium bodied with a lovely texture; the finish is crisp, dry and has great length.”

Click here to view the full article.

The Boston Globe notes that Telmo Rodriguez will be in Boston on May 16th at The Blue Room, and gives a little background on his philosophy and approach in Spain.  Namely, “he has made a career of reviving quality winemaking in some of Spain’s less well-known regions by recovering and spotlighting their native grapes. If you’ve tasted wine from Rueda or Toro recently, or sipped a godello or verdejo, it’s because Rodriguez put them on the map.”  You can see the full piece here, and the video they link to is on one of our previous posts, here.  The Globe correctly notes to “watch out for that funky chicken soundtrack”.

Oenologist and master winemaker Telmo Rodríguez led a wine tasting event at AoC restaurant in Copenhagen. Organized by Wines from Spain and the Spanish Foreign Trade Agency Office at the Spanish Embassy in Copenhagen, the event, aptly titled “White Spain” featured only Spanish white wines, 16 to be exact, from 10 appellations. The wines were paired with Spanish cheeses as well as the gastronomic fare of chef Ronny Emborg.

Click here for more about the event.

A recent article in the New Zealand Herald, Mark Young confesses his love for “surfer-turned-wine-lover” Telmo Rodriguez and his seductively Spanish wines. In fact, Young admits to loving it so much that he’s now importing it into New Zealand. His pick for wine of the week: 2008 Telmo Rodriguez Al Muvedre

“The subtitle here is “tinto joven”, meaning young red, which implies soft and simple flavours, but nothing could be further from the chocolatey truth in every mouthful of this lovely Spanish newcomer to these shores.”

Read all about it here.

Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar’s September/October 2010 issues features the best new wines from Spain. Not surprisingly, Telmo Rodriguez made out with some monster scores.

2008 Almuvedre, Alicante
“Deep red. Musky redcurrant and dried cherry on the nose, with a sexy floral quality and a touch of incense. Lively, sweet raspberry and cherry flavors are given clarity and energy by tangy minerality. A deeper blackberry note comes up with air and carries through the long, juicy finish.” 90 IWC

2006 Gago, Toro
“Ruby-red. Sexy aromas of blackberry, cherry-cola and oak spice, with a potpourri note gaining strength with air. Pliant, palate-staining dark fruit flavors are attractively open-knit and show very good clarity. The cola note repeats on the sweet, clinging finish.” 90 IWC

2007 MR, Malaga
“Deep yellow-gold. Ripe peach and nectarine on the nose, with exotic notes of gingerbread and orange marmalade adding complexity. Sweet, fleshy, expansive pit fruit nectar flavors are lifted by a gentle minerality, which adds back-end cut. Energetic for a late-harvest wine: there’s no syrupy character here at all. Finishes with very good clarity and spicy persistence.” 91 IWC

Get the entire list here (with subscription).