Sedella 2013

"The 2013 Sedella shows a clear impact from a much cooler year that produced fresher wines. It's produced with the fruit of a single vineyard planted in the 1940s with a mélange of local varieties, mostly Romé, but also Garnacha, Jaén, Montua and Moscatel Romano. This is a north-facing slope (cooler) at some 800 meters altitude, which is what owner and winemaker Lauren Rosillo call Mediterranean Mountain Wine. All the varieties are hand-harvested together and co-fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts, then transferred to egg-shaped cement vats and used French oak barriques for malolactic and 14-18 months of ageing;t he wines are not racked and no sulfur is added. Rosillo told me he used some old silver coins instead. There are sapid notes, reminiscent of meat broth and umami, with plenty of thyme and rosemary, unmistakably Mediterranean. The palate shows character, some rusticity with dusty tannins and nice balance, with stuffing to develop in bottle and to stand up to hearty food. This is different from the 2012, but I think at a similar quality level. One of these days I need to dig out the 2008 that is lying somewhere in my cellar... 3,916 bottles were filled in December 2014".