It is very nice to be recommended a restaurant in a village lost in the mountains of which you are told that you eat very well. The second thing you think about is what kind of wine you’ll find on it. And to myself I say “Alicante … on the mountain …. It is possible that the usual suspects … “. So I almost decided to ask for some Coca-Colas, which maridan well with everything. But hope is the last thing that is lost, even in the mountains. Taking a look at the wine list I begin to see what I feared. So I asked the owner: “And Rafa Bernabé has something?” Looks at me and tells me: “I have Longdrink and Beryna”. Smile of satisfaction, a clear among the clouds. “So do not talk anymore. First the first and second the second. “
So we enjoyed the good food from the site, which it was and a lot, with two wines that were well worth it. LongdrinkMonastrell 2013 is a 100% fermented in stainless and without aging. Wine young and rich. Beryna 2012 Monastrell and Garnacha is 14 months in new oak is also very rich.
These two were the first wines we enjoyed a winery located in Villena, Alicante Province. A few months went by and at that time we began to plan a visit and write about this Alicante winery. Meanwhile, fell into our hands a bottle of your Benimaquia Tinajas 2015, Orange wine that captivated us from the first drink. Meseguera and Moscatel six months of contact with the skins and aged in earthenware jars. A very striking color, a very intense nose and a mouth that represents what must be an orange wine made in jar.
Later, but not much, we had the opportunity to test two sparkling Barnabas, both made according to the ancestral method: Acequión 2013, Muscat of Alexandria 100%. A wine that is well worth it. With Benimaquia still recent in our taste buds, Acequión offered us the same aromas and flavors but with the peculiarity of having bubbles. Very rich and very pleasant to drink. Tipzzy 2015, Monastrell and Garnacha. Another good example of Rafa Barnabé’s work with sparkling wines.
After tasting these wines, it seemed Bodegas Bernabé Navarro write about and its owner and winemaker, Rafa Bernabé. And especially about the wines that are made in jars, which are three white wines, two red and one pink.
The whites are made with an assemblage of Moscatel and Meseguera and the difference between them is the time that they remain in the amphoras. Tinajas de la Mata has four months of aging, Benimaquia Tinajas grows for six months and Flor de la Mata aged for twenty four months. The breeding of the latter is also on flower veil.
The two red wines are friendship, made with the variety Rojal and four months barrel, and Cuvée Juan Padilla, 100% Monastrell and twelve months aging vat.
Finally, the pink is Musikanto, 100% Garnacha and four months aging in barrel.
All of them made with grapes from organic agriculture, like the rest of the house wines.
There are more wines in the cellar that you have to try. Little by little all roads are gone, because these five wines are only the beginning.
Soon we will talk with Rafa Bernabé about his wines and his wine philosophy.
Photos (c) Bodegas Bernabé Navarro
