January 16, 2013
Bernabeleva's Incredible Vina Bonita

-Complementary from our friends at The Rare Wine Co.-

Today, Garnacha is being born again in Spain, this time thanks to the survival of some spectacularly old, remote mountain vineyards. The world's first brush with the greatness of Spanish mountain Garnacha came in the 1990s, when the first few vintages of Alvaro Palacios' great L'Ermita-from Garnacha vines planted around 1940-were released.

Other Garnacha-based wines have followed, but few have been more compelling than those of Bernabeleva, a property in the mountains just west of Madrid. This project is the obsession of the descendents of Dr. Vincente Alvarez-Villamil, who originally planted Garnacha vineyards here in the 1920s.

The Buzz
The first Bernabeleva vintage to appear in the U.S. - and to be imported by The Rare Wine Co. - was the 2008. And each vintage since, Bernabeleva has given us something new to be excited about.

As 2013 begins, the excitement continues to be about the extraordinary 2010s, clearly the finest vintage yet for the estate. A year ago, news of the vintage's greatness was broken by San Francisco Chronicle wine critic Jon Bonne, who included Bernabeleva in his Top 10 Most Memorable Wines of 2011, writing: "Here's Garnacha unbound. Aged in neutral, large casks, it's packed with a volcanic dark-stone presence and savory power. You forget how big and powerful the wine is, and just admire its almost weightless bayberry fruit and brilliant acidity."

Vina Bonita
(Cream currently has some 2009 left in stock; the info below highlights the 2010 vintage)
Bernabeleva's top 2010 cuvee is Vina Bonita.

The estate's dominant soil type is sand, hence the logical comparison to Ch. Rayas. But Vina Bonita's soil is shallower than the rest, with just 18 inches of sand covering the crumbly granite bedrock.

Here, the roots have to work their way deep into the rock in order to sustain themselves. Like Romanee Conti, Bernabeleva believes that Bonita brings together the best qualities of the estate's other vineyards into a single wine.

It has the bright aromatics of Arroyo, but shares the rich texture of Carril del Rey and Navaherreros Tinto.

It is a remarkable wine, thanks not only to the shallow soil, but also to the mountains' warm days and cool nights, as well as winemaker Marc Isart Pinos' desire to produce wines of great purity and site expression. His methods are thrillingly old-fashioned, with foot treading of grapes, a 45-day maceration with the stems and little use of new wood.

Bernabeleva is one of the most exciting (and potentially influential) new Spanish wine estates to emerge in the past decade. And, so far, the 2010 Vina Bonita is its Masterwork. 

Vina Bonita 2010 is sold out and the 2011 will be released in the Fall of 2013.