If ever a wine needed subtitles, this would be it. But there are a lot of fun, esoteric things emerging from the wine world today simply because they are there and someone was convinced enough of the wine to bring it to market. The label is very ‘camp’, the red waxed tip closure visually appealing, and the appellation Castilla y Leon reasonably familiar to fans of Spanish wines as a broad area containing other more delineated regions within it like Ribera del Duero. This particular wine is labeled 2016 Máquina & Tabla Páramos de Nicasia Blanco Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon, a rather wordy delineation that essentially means ‘freedom’ because the wines bearing the “vino de la tierra” nomenclature operate outside the strict guidelines of more specific Dos like Ribera and Rueda.
Most of the examples we have seen bearing this banner, probably the most famous of which is Mauro, are red. Though with the dark glass and red cap might give one an impression otherwise, this is pink wine, though one with a personality all its own. The stated goal here is to produce wines with a connection to centuries-old tradition, in this case making a ‘Clarete’. The wine is made by blending the free-run juice of Garnacha, Tempranillo, and Malvasia which here creates a wine that isn’t very pink and has more in common with a white wine from Savennierres or a dry version of a still ‘blanc de noir’. They use the term ‘Clarete’ rather than Rosato because they feel it suggests a wine that is more substantial and serious than your garden variety pink wine.
This juice comes from 8 hectare vineyard located outside Villaester within the D.O. of Toro. Called Pasiego, this site is a mix of 50-60 year old, ungrafted vines of Tinta del País (the local clone of Tempranillo), Garnacha and Malvasía on sandy soil over a clay/limestone subsoil. The color of this wine comes from the natural hue of the free-run juice of the blend, which is roughly equal parts of the three varietals. It has volume, texture, and verve, and can hang with more serious dishes. It sees 8 months in four-year-old barrels.
Luis Gutierrez of Wine Advocate took a walk on the wild side as well, saying of this unique juice “…It has a serious profile, especially on the palate, where it’s somewhere in between a light red and a full-bodied white, with serious chalky tannins and consistency to stand up to food and a few years of aging in bottle. It’s tasty and supple, serious and not banal…91 points.” Definitely not banal, this is also the type of distinctive effort that the broad marketplace doesn’t even know exists. It’s definitely something that has a place on the table and makes a great foil for a surprising array of dishes. A must try.