Tasting and food matching a couple of interesting Spanish wines.

Opening up two bottles of something special from Pago wines on a chilly Friday afternoon with Sam and Paul. What more could I ask for? There was lots of discussion and some terrible jokes throughout the afternoon as we tasted the orange wine 'Malavara' and the red 'Vertixe' over the next few hours. Almost like normal times!

We poured the Malavara first, it has extended skin contact, with no filtering or fining so was expecting something funky. Slightly cloudy in the glass and straw coloured, a big whiff of funk and farmyard initially, horses' sweat and drains were mentioned! Banter about the merits of natural wines versus quality chablis ensued. After thirty minutes in the glass it really opened up; aromas of thyme, orange zest and a little leaf litter remained. Waxy in the mouth, the palate was very savoury, baked apricots with hints of orange leaving a finish of salinity.

The wine is named after the grape Malvar, and the word for bad ‘mala’, in reference to the variety which is often belittled as ‘just a local’ grape. It is made by husband and wife team Raúl and Laura Calle who have been making wine since 2013. Today they have almost four hectares in the Tajuña Valley near Madrid and make six wines in their garage under their house. They use organic practices and minimum intervention in their winemaking. Grapes are hand harvested, whole bunches are de-stemmed and put into open barrels and buckets for alcoholic fermentation using indigenous yeasts. After 20 days on the skins, the wine is pressed and racked to mature in clay amphorae for three months. One last racking to a stainless steel deposit in order to remove impurities and solid waste through decanting. We left the Malavara in the glass for another hour and it continued to change; tasting with Sam’s beautiful anchovies in salsa verde really elevated the wine, the saltiness matched perfectly, it would be great with salt cod fritters. 

Again the Vertixe had a lot of aromas of manure initially! It had been in the glass for over an hour by the time we started to taste it, but was definitely worth the wait. This would benefit from a couple of hours in a decanter before drinking. Deeply coloured and inviting, aromas of black pepper, liquorice, black cherries and blackberry with slight hints of cocoa. Medium bodied with more juicy black cherries, mulberries and cracked black pepper on the finish. Good tannins and acidity balanced this wine nicely and the longer we left it, the more it grew; after another hour meaty undertones developed as well as flavours of thyme and violets. Delicious, and would go perfectly with the barbecued leg of lamb that I had over Easter (difficult to think of barbecues at this current time as I’m under blanket with the heating on!).

The Vertexe is from exciting winemaker Orly Lumbreras who is based in Gredos, however the Mencia and Souson grapes for this wine are from the incredibly steep slopes of the Ribeira Sacra. Biodynamic farming is practiced. Grapes are handpicked and foot trodden daily, 20% remain on their stems creating the deep colour and luscious flavours. Wines are fermented in open vats before four months spent in used barrels. 

I do love fresh and zesty Chablis but I also love the surprise of so-called ‘natural wines’, their volatility and how they change over time. You never quite know what you might find; some are challenging, but they are never boring. The Vertixe and the Malavara are both rustic, but interesting and honest wines, try them and see what you think!

Buy these wines:

Malavara Orange Wine, Raúl Calle 2019

Vertixe 2018, Orly Lumbreras