Las Calzadas Tinacula Red 2019

Ribera del Jucar, Spain Tinacula Red from Bodega Las Calzadas is a beautiful representation of the Bobal grape, an up-and-coming ancient red variety in southeast Spain. Daniel, the 27-year-old winemaker behind Bodega Las Calzadas, makes wine the hard way. The vines are old and unproductive. White Pardilla vines are scattered amongst bush vines of red Bobal, Cencibel (Tempranillo) and a smattering of other varieties. Machines can’t maneuver their gnarly branches so everything must be done by hand. And he grows everything organically. In the winery, nothing is added to the wine except time and a tiny amount of sulfites when bottling. All 27,000 bottles are made with native yeasts and aged in clay amphora. But while amphora may be trendy right now, Daniel isn’t one for trends. His tinajas, as they are called in Spain, are more than 150 years old. He excavated them from abandoned cellars throughout his region where winemakers have been aging their wines in these clay beasts since Roman times. The winery, which sits about halfway between Madrid and Valencia, is as family-run as they come. Daniel makes the wine, his father tends to the vines and his mother paints the art for the labels. Tinacula Red smells of fresh blackberry, wet earth, candied raspberry with hints of sweet spices like clove and vanilla. One sip will transport you to a dusty road in rural Spain that is lined with wild blackberry and raspberry bushes. While this wine has punchy tannins, it is clear that Daniel has managed to heroically tame the rustic structure of the Bobal grape and balance it with plenty of spunky fruit. The 5 months in amphora has rounded the tannins, integrated the flavors and created a wine that is a clear representation of the land, history and culture that it comes from. Enjoy Las Calzadas Tinacula Red slightly chilled over the next 5-7 years as an ideal companion for salads and vinaigrettes, hot tapas like pork sausage skewers and, of course, lively conversation!