Tinto Joven 7 Mil Pasos 2018 13.5%, Finca Las Mesetas

Appearance

Intense opaque black cherry red with a tight purple rim.

Nose

Lovely plump, broad, soft, fresh and generous with loads of very ripe black berry fruit like a compôte of blackberry, morello cherry and black plum with faint traces of sweetness and smoke in the background. There are no wood aromas to distract from all this fruit, but instead traces of violet.

Palate

Full, beautifully rounded, smooth and balanced with just the right acidity to carry through the fruit and few bitter tannins yet it is deceptively well structured and remarkably  drinkable for such a young wine. The ripeness shows it comes from a hot place, the saline minerality that it is from soil with chalk and the freshness that it is from altitude. Good clean long finish.

Comments

Winemaking - ironically in a place called Setenil de las Bodegas - had ceased until the Camacho family decided to revive the tradition. It had once been an important product for this small town on the northeastern edge of the Sierra de Cádiz which sits in a gorge with huge open caves carved out by the river Guadalporcún and where houses and of course bodegas were built. The name “Setenil” derives from the Latin “Ad septem milia” (at seven miles) describing the town´s location and 7 Mil Pasos means seven thousand paces, or much the same thing. The 60 hectare Finca Las Mesetas has 1.3 hectares of Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon planted some 10 years ago at an altitude of over 600 metres, while the rest is used for cattle farming and agriculture. They even have a shop in a cave (La Tienda del Ibérico) selling local produce. The wines are vinified by eminent consultant oenologist Santi Jordi using the production and bottling facilities of Bodegas Ibargϋen and were first released in 2015. There are two, both reds: Tinto Roble Xaldenil and this Tinto Joven 7 Mil Pasos which does not undergo ageing. Production of this Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz is around 3,000 bottles.

Price
8.95, De Albariza