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

Xaldenil 2015 14%, Finca Las Mesetas

Appearance
Very deep, opaque black plummy red tight to the rim where there is still some pink.
Nose

Syrah and Cabernet jump out with smokey mulberry and blackcurrant aromas. Still fairly tight but with lovely fresh fruit and a faint jammy note along with a hint of pencil from the French oak and a balsamic trace, this is full bodied, perfectly ripe and really quite intense and looks very promising for further ageing in bottle.

Palate

Big and generous with no shortage of character it has plenty of almost chewy texture, and while there is plenty of structure, the tannins are ripe and completely unaggressive. There is a slightly balsamic edge to the copious black fruit (from a hot place) and that hint of oak and a noticeable and refreshing minerality, but everything is very well balanced. This is a serious wine, very well made with considerable length, but unfortunately in short supply.

Comments

This wine comes from the small and pretty town of Setenil de las Bodegas, located  at over 600 metres altitude in the Sierra de Cádiz, surely the highest vineyards in the province. The town sits on a river which has carved out a spectacular gorge leaving overhanging rock which has provided people with homes since very ancient times. Sadly the bodegas were wiped out by phylloxera and only the town´s name gives any idea they ever existed. Here the Camacho family have a 1.3 hectare vineyard planted to Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot and winemaking is done by oenologist Santiago Jordi. This was the second vintage of Xaldenil, made with 45% Syrah, 35% Cabernet and 20% Merlot, and it was aged for 6 months in used French oak barrels. Naturally production is small, at just 2,400 bottles. This is one of two wines they produce, the other being called 7 Mil Pasos. The family also have a shop, La Cueva del Iberico, selling ham, oils, cheeses etc. and of course wine.

Price

13.50 Licores Corredera