2016 Mironia Verdejo
Blend: 100% Verdejo
From: Rueda, Spain
Rueda is a historic Spanish white wine zone named after the unprepossessing town which straddles the main road from Madrid to León in Castilla y León. In the Middle Ages, vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town, but after phylloxera ravaged the zone, Rueda went into rapid decline. The high-yielding palomino grape was used for replanting, a move that in this case was justified since the main local styles were fortified wines in the image of sherry.
For much of the 20th century, the local Verdejo grape was Rueda's sleeping beauty. It was awoken in the 1970s, when Bodegas Marqués de Riscal of Rioja recognized the area's potential for dry white wine and sold a fresh Rueda white alongside its Rioja reds. Rueda was awarded DO status in 1980 and the local Consejo Regulador succeeded in relaunching the native variety of which there were nearly three times as much as of Palomino in the mid 2000s, a radical reversal of the previous situation. Fortified wines are hardly made today and modern Rueda is a light, fruity, dry white wine. It may be made from a blend of Viura (Macabeo) and Verdejo, the latter accounting for at least 50% of the blend, or it may be a Sauvignon Blanc varietal. Rueda Superior must contain at least 85% Verdejo and, as more farmers convert their vineyards, there are ever more varietal wines. Sauvignon Blanc was introduced by Marqués de Riscal in the early 1980s.
Verdejo became such a fashionable grape in Spain, with tons of character, that its total plantings increased threefold between 2004 and 2011 to just over 18,000 ha/44,460 acres. Its distinctive blue-green bloom, which presumably inspired its name, is Rueda’s pride and joy (and helped stave off a challenge for primacy from imported Sauvignon Blanc, with which it is often blended). The variety ripens relatively early but is very susceptible to powdery mildew. DNA parentage analysis suggests Verdejo and Godello may be siblings. Wines produced are aromatic, herbaceous (somewhat reminiscent of laurel), but with great substance and extract, capable of ageing well into an almost nutty character.
For Mironia’s Verdejo, the grapes are harvested at optimum maturity, protected by the cool of the night using a mechanical harvester to preserve freshness. Once in the winery, they proceed to lightly press the grapes at a low temperature in an inert atmosphere. The juice from the press ferments in stainless steel tanks for more than 15 days at a temperature of 15ºC. Finally, it is aged in French Oak barrels on the fine lees, for 3 months, after the alcoholic fermentation is finished.
Taste: Pale yellow, brilliant with reflexes green emerald. Fresh and intense nose of great complexity that develops as the wine breathes, showing minerals notes together with some cinnamon hints, vanilla and honey, that remarks its barrel ageing with its lees. It is fresh and tender in the mouth with a rounded finish, and its fleshiness and unctuousness incite us to keep enjoying it.
Pairing: Seafoods, salads, this wine will stand up to hard to pair ingredients like tomatoes, asparagus, and vinaigrettes. Grilled fish tacos with mango salsa would be perfect, as would a tofu and veggie stir fry in tamarind sauce.
