2009 Miguel Merino Mazuelo de Quinta Cruz Rioja

Notes

We are very pleased to be focusing our Spanish direct import program in Rioja, and most fortunate to have begun working with one of Rioja's most beloved vignerons, Miguel Merino. A longtime participant in the wine business, having sold wine for wine distributors in the States as well as having worked as an export manager, Miguel found success along every step of the way, and then decided that rather than retire, he wanted to fulfill his dream of owning vines and making wine. Based in the Rioja Alta town of Briones, Miguel Merino makes--as he likes to put it--an "updated classic" style of Rioja, all from his own 2 hectares of vines and several hectares of vineyards owned by a close friend. All the fruit is from sloped vineyards (Miguel is a fan of his slopes) within the cooler climate Rioja Alta town of Briones, which makes these wine a terrific showcase of the terroir (especially in a region where wines blended from various villages are more often the norm). This is a truly unique wine, a single vineyard Carignane (Mazuelo in Spanish) from a cool, Atlantic-influenced climate. Bright, nervy and red fruited, this is quite an original single vineyard wine, and if you want to see what Carignane can do on its own, you definitely should check it out. (Joe Manekin, K&L Spanish Wine Buyer)