A Wow! Wine From Spain's North

Antonio Díez Martín is an artisan winemaker from Spain's Ribera del Duero region. He pulls grapes from the vines in his family's vineyard, which has 100 years of grape production behind it. He sells wine through the Naked Wines network, and he credits those angels with helping him to start producing wine again after a fire destroyed his winery and back vintages eleven years ago.

This 2021 Verdejo is a single vineyard estate wine, a white which typifies the refreshing wines of northern Spain. Martin's labels are cool, too. They remind me of Picasso. The wine carries alcohol at 13% abv, and it cost a little under $10 at Whole Foods Market.

Expected aromas of citrus appear first in this pale, yellow wine - lemons, limes, oranges. There is a lot of zest in there, and a sense of what the sidewalk smells like after a rain. A soapy undercurrent of lanolin brings a bit more complexity. The palate is straight-line savory, with salinity leading the fruit around on a leash. Acidity is fresh and lively without the razor-sharp edge that can be disconcerting. Pair this wine with seafood of any sort or pasta and oil dishes. 

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Naked Michigan Chardonnay

The locals call it paradise on a peninsula.  Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula wine region sticks out of the northwestern edge of the state's main body into Lake Michigan.  Situated on the 45th parallel, about the same latitude where you'll find Bordeaux, it's a 19-mile spit which juts northward and forms the east and west sides of Grand Traverse Bay.  It's only four miles wide at its broadest point. 

They grow wine grapes there.  The blue waters surrounding the land are some 600 feet deep, that produces what they call a "lake effect" which I am told protects the vines with snow in winter, slows bud break in spring to avoid frost damage, and extends the growing season by up to four weeks.

There's a thriving wine AVA on the strip of land, along with breweries and distilleries.  I've tasted Michigan wines before and found them to be of very high quality, so I had high expectations when the OMP reps sent some of their wines to me for review.  I was not disappointed.

The Bowers Harbor wine business was established in 1991, four years after the Old Mission Peninsula was granted AVA status.  The estate sits on a former horse farm, with 20 acres of grapes now growing.  The vines include Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.  The property is owned by Linda Stegenga and her son, Spencer.

The 2017 Bowers Harbor Unwooded Chardonnay presents the grape unadorned by the effect of oak barrels.  The stainless steel fermentation includes full malolactic creaminess at a very reasonable alcohol level of 12% abv.  The wine sells for $16, and is a steal at that price.

This straw-colored Michigan Chardonnay smells of nothing but fruit, since it was never introduced to oak.  Meyer lemon, stone fruit and tropical notes rise up from the glass.  On the palate, that's where it really takes off.  The fruit flavors jump right out, but it's the full malolactic fermentation that steals the show.  The wine is so full and creamy, you'd swear there had to be some oak barrels somewhere along the way.  Racy acidity adds to what is already an embarrassment of riches.


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EDNA VALLEY VINEYARD CHARDONNAY PARAGON VINEYARD 2008

California Chardonnay- big, bombastic white wines full of oak and all that implies - is a style many wine drinkers have been shying away from in recent years.  The swing toward unoaked - naked, if you will - Chardonnays which emphasize the flavor of the fruit and the effect of the earth has left many old-line California Chardonnays holding the oak.

I’ll admit, I love the purity and minerality expressed in an unoaked or low-oaked Chardonnay.  Burgundy found long ago how much was to be gained by letting the terroir do the talking.  There are times, though, when you want a Chardonnay to get all hedonistic on you.  For me, the holiday season is that time.

After months of austere whites and fruity, bone-dry rosés, the arrival of that lip-smacking prelude to the Thanksgiving feast puts me in the mood for a big, creamy, buttery Chardonnay.  And I look to Edna Valley.

A place responsible for many of those austere whites which refreshed me through the summer, Edna Valley is also home to one of my favorite over-the-top Chardonnays, Edna Valley Vineyard.

A San Luis Obispo County favorite, the ‘08 Paragon Vineyard Chardonnay has a nose full of vanilla spice, richly layered flavors and a near-bracing acidity to make it a more than capable holiday choice.  It’s great with food.  Turkey is a snap for this wine, which even turns a handful of peanuts or almonds into a gourmet delight.

I had a bottle early in the spring, and it put me in mind of a holiday spread even then.  “The wood comes through in healthy fashion,” I wrote, “with strong notes of vanilla and traces of holiday spice.  This would be a great white on the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner table.”

The wine shows a golden straw color in the glass, one that suggests there may be some oak at play.  The nose further reveals that influence with the spiciness.  Pears and some of those Edna Valley minerals also are apparent.”

The incredibly full palate is dripping with the sweet fruit flavor found in a can of fruit, like pineapple, pears or peaches in heavy juice.  There's more than a trace of lemon zest, too, and a razor-sharp acidity despite the creaminess of the mouthfeel.  So big is the taste, it may make you think there's an extra portion of something on your plate.

My bottle was on sale at a discount store for $13.  Its 13.9% abv, is a fairly moderate number, something many of us like to keep in mind during holiday entertaining.