Iberian Wine News: Miguel Merino and Bodegas Puelles
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 12:00PM | Chiara Shannon
Exciting week, let's get to it.... 1) DI's! Direct Imports! Direct from the farm to our stores to your cellar! Well, the unthinkable is happening this week: we are actually receiving a container from Europe on time in 2011! And not just any container. We are introducing our first two purely direct (unbrokered, visit the folks, shake hands, agree to be partners) wines which we have worked with in Spain. They are both Rioja producers and I'd love to introduce you to them. Miguel Merino is a bodega, the man behind the bodega, as well as his son Miguel who - you guessed it - also helps out at the bodega. Located in the beautiful town of Briones in Rioja Alta, Miguel Merino describes his wines as "updated classics." The classic component would include very well situated, mature vines planted in calcareous clay in a cool part of the D.O. These roughly eight hectares of vines are cultivated organically, still plowed by horse, and owned both by Miguel and a close friend of his. "Updated" likely refers to Miguel's penchant for used barrels (used meaning 2-4 years old, not 2-4 decades old), coopered from a blend of French and American oak. The wines taste like Rioja but are less marked by wood than many examples of both the traditional and more modern styles. All of the Miguel Merino wines should age quite nicely. I really look forward to turning people on to these wonderful wines. Bodegas Puelles is a winery located in Abalos, another small Rioja Alta town, and it is run by Jesús Puelles and his brother. Jesús works the vineyards, his brother handles the cellar. Their vines are also farmed primarily organically, with a minimum use of treatments and naturally growing cover crops utliized between the rows. They face north towards the majestic Sierra Cantabria mountains - they are very, very close affording the visitor quite a view. Though we currently only carry a wonderfully bright and satisfying 07 crianza along with what is perhaps my favorite unoaked white rioja, we hope to bring in a few more wines from these folks; these wines are seriously good values. And, if you are ever visiting in Rioja, the Puelles family runs a lovely inn with a few rooms offering beautiful views of their vines. I hear that Jesús is quite the host, and having spent a brief amount of time with him, I do not doubt it. 2008 Miguel Merino "Viñas Jovenes" Rioja Alta - $19.99 2005 Miguel Merino Reserva Rioja Alta - $29.99 2004 Miguel Merino Gran Reserva Rioja Alta - $39.99 2009 Miguel Merino Mazuelo de Quinta Cruz Rioja Alta - $24.99 2009 Bodegas Puelles Blanco Rioja - $11.99 2007 Bodegas Puelles Crianza Rioja - $15.99 TXOX! (if that's a new expression for you, you'll learn all about it on Friday) 3) Non-DI Spanish Wine of the Week In a world where commodity wines with goopy textures and sweet oak flavors tend to garner much of the attention, it provides some level of comfort that affordable, rustic wines of character such as this one still exist. Hasta la proxima semana.... -Joe *** 
By: Joe Manekin | K&L Staff Member
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