2002 Mas Estela Quindals Emporda (Costa Brava) Spain. 14% alcohol. Imported by Vos Selections, New York. Chambers Street, $17.00. Bright red color, medium hue, pretty fruit aroma and taste with spice, floral and tarry notes, medium mouth feel, light tannins and acidity in very good balance, pleasing finish with fruit and tarry notes. 4*.
I always like buying wine from Chambers Street. Usually I have a list of six or eight bottles recommended by other people, and then to fill out the case, just wander through the descriptions. All I had to do this time was read those three words -- "this wonderful wine" -- and my order was a bottle closer to the magic number 12. This bottle lived up to TB's descriptor tonight, making a lovely counterpoint to leftover roasted vegetables, tofu in a hodge podge sauce I came up with, and half a Whole Foods meatball.
Regards, Bob
Notes:
Chambers Street: This wonderful wine is 90% Grenache with 5% Syrah and 5% old-vine Carignan from the mountainous vineyards in Costa Brava, just south of the French border on the Mediterranean. Great red cassis fruit is balanced with tar and spice in this medium bodied red wine. TB red | 2 in stock | BioDynamic | $16.99
Vos Selections http://www.vosselections.com Quindals Red Grenache Noir 90%, Syrah 5%, Old-vines Carinena 5%. 10 day maceration; 6 months in neutral oak barrels. Biodynamically farmed, the slate soils of this mountainous vineyard produce intense wines with a strong reflection of the native terroir.
Winery: http://www.masestela.com/ [The website wasn't working for me; perhaps it will run better for you.
The Full Bottle Blog Site -- http://thefullbottle.blogspot.com/2005/ ... stela.html
Mas Estela is an inspiring place. Visually, it is one of the most beautiful properties in Europe. The family that runs it and the resulting wines are as equally wonderful... Mas Estela is run and operated by Diego and Nuria Soto and two of their boys, Didac and Josep. It is located in the most stunning part of the Costa Brava, two hours drive north of Barcelona in the dramatic, extreme north east of Spain, where the Pyrenees Mountains meet the Mediterranean Sea on the Cap de Creus. The property is centered around vestiges of 10th C housing in “cuvettes” deep within the mountain walls only 3 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea and bordering the Cap Creus National Park. Mas Estela, meaning “shooting star” traces its roots back centuries. It has always been a vineyard, which, along with the rest of the National Park was entirely planted with vines. However, the Phylloxera epidemic in the late 19th C and then the civil war all but killed the lifestyle and before long the entire Peninsula was abandoned.
The Soto’s first discovered Mas Estela back in 1989 while on a hiking vacation from Barcelona. The Mas was in ruins and the property was abandoned. The Soto’s contacted the owners and quickly settled a deal. Within a year the Sotto’s had picked up and moved their family to their new home to revive a vineyard long ago forgotten. They immediately started reviving plants that could be salvaged and re-planted the rest. They managed to salvage some of the old vines including some 45-year Carignan plants. Today, the vineyard boasts 15 hectares of land divided among Carignan, Monastrell, Grenache, Syrah, Chardonnay and Muscat d’Alexandria grape varietals.
The wines of Mas Estela are outstanding. They are a deserving result of people who care a ton about what they do. The grapes are carefully hand selected from organically grown, biodynamic viticulture - the traditional way. The grapes are then vinified and matured with respect, which result in excellent wines, that are fruity and velvety and of course characteristic of the area - enjoy!” Written by David Butterfield.