Cepa 21 Virtual Tasting with José Moro

Third generation winemaker José Moro returned to a virtual setting to showcase three wines from Cepa 21 Winery, the sister winery to Emilio Moro Bodegas. Like it's sibling Cepa 21 is located in Ribera del Duero D.O., the highest appellation in Spain. Despite the elevation, the region enjoys a Mediterranean growing climate with more than 2,400 hours of sunshine, little rainfall, and extreme temperature changes between day and night. The Duero River provides both a water supply and a moderating affect on temperatures. The soils are a mixture of chalk, clay, and rocky textures.

Cepa 21 was formed by José and his brother Javier in 2007 with the goal of providing approachable fruit forward wines representing both quality and value. And like the Emilio Moro Bodegas, all the Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) wines are made using the family's unique Emilo Moro clone. Cepa 21 utilizes three vineyards: The Vega, The Hillsides, and The Plateau. The later has the highest elevation at 2,625+ feet and is the source for two of the wines we sampled: the Cepa 21 and Malabrigo.

Hito 2014 ($16) (hito means milestone) - aged 8 months in American and French oak; jammy and juicy blackberries, licorice, with solid acids and tannin. This wine nails the winery's goal to provide high quality and value.

Cepa 21 2011 ($25) - aged 14 months in American and French oak; big, chewy, spicy, minerals, structured tannins. The label refers to their grandfather's plow and honors the labor intensive nature of grape agriculture. This is another fantastic wine

Malabrigo 2011 ($70) - harvested from a single vineyard and aged 18 months in oak; integrated dark fruit, sweet texture, structured tannins. The label expresses Moro's memories of winter pruning and sitting sown afterwards admiring the vineyard. What this wine requires in price, it returns in delicious quality. The most interesting aspect is the delicate sweetness on the palate which blends seamlessly into the creamy texture. Quite an exceptional wine.

Spirits Review: Midnight Moon Moonshine Cherry Shine

I generally avoid flavored spirits, but last week I was drawn to the Midnight Moon Moonshine section at the local ABC store and decided to try their Cherry Shine ($24). Perhaps it was memories of sipping Hungarian Bonbon meggy likőr. The spirit is produced by North Carolina's Piedmont Distillers, Inc. and according to their website "is inspired by Junior Johnson’s legendary moonshine recipe". As a reminder, Johnson was a moonshine and NASCAR legend who transitioned from running moonshine to auto racing. In between her served time for his illegal activities but was eventually pardoned by President Reagan. In 2007 Johnson became part owner of Piedmont Distillers with founder Joe Michalek.

Piedmont distills in traditional copper pot stills and the base spirit for the Midnight Moonshine Cherry is made from a corn mash cut to 100 proof with filtered water. The only flavoring comes from real cherries added to the mason jar.  This is a strong whiskey, not necessarily hot, but nevertheless strong at 50% alcohol. There's a little heat on the nose but the sour cherries ease the heat on the palate  providing a tart and slightly sweet profile. And it's pleasantly sweet and tart, not syrupy. All in all it's rather addicting -- particularly the soaked cherries. 

Vinkara Offers Two Tasty Turkish Wines to the U.S. Market

Wines from Turkey are getting more play in the U.S. market and one of these producers is Vinkara. This winery focuses on indigenous grapes grown on their estate in Central Anatolia, a region some consider the birthplace of wine. According to Vinkara's website, wine residue has been dated to the Hittites who lived in the region 15,000 years ago. And auxiliary evidence is that there are 1,200 indigenous grape varieties from Central Anatolia. The Gürsel family began operations in 2003 with Marco Monchiero an Italian Oenologist, joining the team in 2008. The winery's Central Anatolia estate is specifically located in the Kizhrmak River Basin near the village of Kalecik. At 2,000 feet above seal level, there is plenty of nighttime cooling to retain acids, little rainfall and sandy and limestone soils. This property quite obviously focuses on Kalecik Karasi, a red wine grape which originated in the area.  A second indigenous grape they produce is the white wine grape Narince which originated from the Tokat region to the north. The Erbaa region within the Tokat province has a similar altitude as Kalecik with porous sandy and clay soils.  The winery sent me to of these wines to sample and in general were quite pleasing. The downside is that they are both on the high SRP side for a Turkish wine but worth a look for the adventurous.

Narince Reserve 2012 ($27, 13.5%) - aged for 14 months in on lees in small Burgundy barrels and then aged a further six months in bottle before release. The nose is very floral followed by a creamy grapefruit profile, some minerals, and decent acids.

Kalecik Karasi Reserve 2012 ($25, 13.5%)  - also aged for 14 months in on lees in small Burgundy barrels and then aged a further six months in bottle before release. The wine is very fruit forward, with an herbaceous cough drop like cherry flavor. But I use that descriptor in a positive way. The tail is easy and approachable.