From: Utiel-Requena, Spain
Blend: 65% Bobal 35% Tempranillo
Taste: This youthful red wine shows off a fruit and spice medley with a lively, well-balanced palate. Strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, and blackberries meet baking spices like allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and even a hint of ginger. These lively aromas follow through to a juicy palate wrapped in supple tannins that produce a fresh, red-fruited finish. You’ll love this wine if you love Grenache or Garnacha-based blends, Barbera, and Beaujolais.
Pairing: This charming red pairs well with everything from pizza and pasta to spice-rubbed salmon. Some specific pairing ideas include serving this with chicken teriyaki, sweet and sour pork or tofu, BBQ chicken pizza, meatballs (check out the Marsala chicken meatball recipe below!), cheese and charcuterie boards, tofu with peanut-ginger sauce, sausage and polenta, and likama roasted salmon (meaning spices in Moroccan Arabic).
Marsala Chicken Meatballs
By Carolina Gelen
Published Sept. 20, 2024
Highlights
- The Bobal and Tempranillo for this wine are sourced from vineyards grown according to organic growing criteria in a balanced, caring and sustainable way. The vineyards’ soils carry great importance, being very active with good biological conditions which favor a fast assimilation of reincorporated organic matter. This enables full terroir expression.
- The vineyard location is surrounded by high mountain ranges with wide diurnal temperature variation, which create a special micro-climate.
About. The history of Sierra Norte begins back in 1914, when two brothers (the grandfathers of the current owners) planted Bobal vineyards near the village of Camporrobles. At the time, this area was covered with fields planted with cereals. Locals thought they were crazy. Through the years, more and more vineyards were planted and new markets began to opened up. Up until the mid-90’s, most of the grapes grown here were sold off to wineries. The next generation decided at this time to build a winery and produce their own wine. Construction on the new winery began in 2000, the same year all of their vineyards were officially certified organic. Both their cellar and vineyards are certified organic. The butterfly labels are a “nod” to the time leading up to the release of their first vintage, when everyone had butterflies in their stomachs.
Elaboration/Winemaking: From the harvesting of the grapes to the bottling of the wine the latest technology is applied and the greatest care given to bring out the full potential of these grape varieties. After a short pre-fermentation cold soak, the grapes undergo a temperature-controlled fermentation in contact with the skins with gentle pump-overs for around 2 weeks. The malo-lactic fermentation is done in stainless steel vat. The processes leading up to the bottling (fining, stabilization, and filtering) are carried out in the gentlest way possible in order to preserve all of the wine’s character.
