Bodega Miguel Merino - Mazuelo de la Quinta Cruz 2018
Pairing Suggestions
Bodega Miguel Merino - Mazuelo de la Quinta Cruz 2018 (91+ TSW)
100% Mazuelo from Rioja region!
For a few weeks I tasted the Miguel Merino - Reserva 2013 and was quite impressed by this wine from a relatively young winery from the Rioja region.
Beside the famous Tempranillo wines they also produce an interesting and rare wine from 100% Mazuelo grape. There only a few producers in the Rioja who dare to do this and they are the only with a single vineyard one.
Mazuelo is a difficult grape, with a very long growth cycle which requires heat and time to ripe. That is why it is so unusual in Rioja Alta. However, when planted in the adequate soil and grown with care and patience it becomes a wonderful grape, able to give spicy, deep and unique wines of great colour and vibrant acidity.
Tim Atkin's in 2018 Report Rioja - 95/100 - thus among the top wines from the Rioja and Robert Parker gave 94 points fort his Mazuelo de la Quinra Crus 2018.
They harvested 4,400 kgs at La Quinta Cruz in 2018. The grapes were picked by hand on October 13th, and transported in small crates to the sorting table, then fermented in a small stainless-steel tank at a controlled temperature of 24-25ºC with very few remontages.
Then, the wine went through malolactic fermentation in two 500-litre and six 225-l barrels, all of French oak and all used before. After that, the wine rested in the same barrels for 12 months. Only 3,200 bottles produced.
My tasting notes:
A beautiful Bourgone bottle. In the glass a deep ruby red color with violet tones.
On the medium(+) nose ripe black cherries, blackberries and raspberries with hints of laurel, herbs, tobacco, coffee and spices.
On the palate dry, medium(+) bodied with medium(+) acidity and medium ripe tannins. Fresh and spicy flavours of plums and blackberries with hints of black pepper, earth, cedar and herbs. Not overoaked but very elegant use of wood. The finish has a medium(+) length. A value for money wine and when you wait some more years i twill be rewarded.
Dutch importer for this Mazuelo and some other wines from Miguel Merino @wijnhuyskinesis
Check also the story about this wineshop on my blog.