Marenas Viñedo & Bodega, "Cerro Encinas" 2019

Some of the finest sherry in the world is made here in Montilla, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain. The notion of breaking up monopolies on regional viticultural representation certainly features among the many ideological tenets that undergird part of what it means to make ‘natural’ wine. That these places are not ‘one’ thing; they are endlessly complicated and plural, their gifts manifold in this rich diversity. And so goes the story for José Miguel Márquez of Marenas Viñedo y Bodega. In his own words (as per Selections de La Viña’s wonderful website), he “look[s] to the land for the forgotten memory of wines from before.” There is something spectral in this desire, that the ghosts of the past wander these same vines simply waiting to be given the opportunity to speak once more. A fitting impulse given another (small) part of this place’s history happens to be in Don Quixote’s famous short story “Colloquy of The Dogs” (alternatively, “Dialogue of The Dogs”) where Montilla is represented as a place known for its ‘camachas’ or witches – a kind of fictional setting where the mystical lives alongside the everyday. All of this is to say that Márquez works with indigenous and nearly-extinct grape varieties, for instance, like the grape – Montepila, which is a thick-skinned, and very dark white-wine grape capable of retaining a quite high concentration of sugar. The potential of these grapes in their total distinctiveness knows no bounds.

Montilla, Andalusia. 100% Monastrell, a wild, herbaceous, Mediterranean varietal that rarely gets a chance to shine on its own. The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with wild yeasts. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, with no SO2.