Spanish Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí believed that “a real connoisseur does not drink wine but tastes of its secrets.”
Introducing The Salvador Dali, a $175 Wine-Aid package that includes six bottles of very real Spanish red wine illustrating the lushness and balance that can be found from the Mediterranean Sea to the lower slopes of the Pyrenees. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package.
Dali’s paean to wine, The Wines of Gala, was first published in 1976 as a follow-up to his cult 1973 cookbook Les Dîners de Gala. The book explores the pleasures of the fermented grape in text as well as sensuous and subversive visual works by the artist. Dali categorizes the wines “according to the sensations they create in our very depths” and this Wine-Aid selection might very well fall under what he would consider “Wines of Joy.”
Included in The Salvador Dali Wine-Aid box is two bottles of each:
1) Mas l’Altet “Avi” (Valencia, 2011) Regular Price $35
The husband-and-wife team of Alfredo Esteve and Nina Coolsaet are the heart and soul behind Bodega Mas l’Altet. The couple’s five acre vineyard is situated in the southern portion of the DO Valencia in a microclimate that benefits both from the cooling effect of high elevation and the warmth of the nearby Mediterranean Sea. “Avi” is a blend of mainly Syrah with a large portion of Cabernet Sauvignon and a touch of Garnacha and Merlot. Deeply aromatic and bountiful with ripe fruit, the fitness of the vineyards are evident in each rich, concentrated glassful. As you might suspect, with only five acres, yield is miniscule. Only a few hundred cases are produced each vintage.
2) Domaines Lupier “El Terroir” (Navarra 2014) Regular Price $34
Domaines Lupier have been garnering international accolades from their first vintage in 2008. They produce 100% Garnacha wine from 27 separate plots, with vines ranging from 68 to over 100 years old (the oldest vineyard planted in 1903), at elevations up to 2,500 feet. This is the northern region of Navarra, more specifically, the cool and mountainous sub-zone of Baja Montaña, where wines can show harmony of ripeness and freshness with all the precision of an oceanic climate. “El Terroir” is aromatically complex with layers of floral, cherry, and spice. A sip is superbly balanced and practically begs another in short measure. It puts to mind Château Rayas – another 100% old-vines, Grenache-based wine from the legendary producer in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
3) Artuke “Pies Negros” (Rioja, 2017) Regular Price $24
One of the most exciting producers in Rioja right now, Artuke is brothers Arturo and Kike de Miguel Blanco, third generation viticulturalists. With less than 55 total acres of vineyards distributed over 32 different plots these two young men have completely refocused the family winery to cultivate small vineyard plots in and around their village of Ábalos in the high elevation foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains. “Pies Negros” is a blend of mostly Tempranillo with a small amount of Graciano from vines as old as 95 years. The wine is especially pretty on the nose with a heady floral scent wrapped around candied fruit and cinnamon. A medium-bodied sip is generous and swells through the midpalate to finish with a touch of earth.
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Posted on 2020.04.18 in Spain DO, Wine-Aid Packages, Rioja DOC, Navarra, Valencia