Fabio Bartolomei is an ex-patriot Scott who is Italian, who moved to Spain and is a nut who is a little mad genius of a hybrid. He’s happy at an... read more →
Fabio makes this attention-getting lowish acid wine from old-vine malvar culled from the slopes around Madrid. The color is rosé, the spirit is orange. Low in acid which makes this... read more →
All of Fabio’s 2013s are worth seeking out. Remember the albillo (some sauvignon-like skunk), the malvar (which would get both my hardcore and geek stamps, with some interesting Band-Aid mint,... read more →
Jancis Robinson’s book Grapes documents chelva as an old Andalucian grape which is often called lairen. Allowed in the Madrid DO, it seems to be a hearty and disease-resistant variety,... read more →
My TFLWS is going to love me and hate me for this polarizing wine. First, a sauvignon blanc from the hot hills outside of Madrid? How non-traditional! Well, the vines... read more →
Vinos de Madrid is the nearest appellation to the city, about an hour drive out. Continental climate means ‘hot as hell’ in the summer, or even during harvest, as when... read more →
Here we’ve got those Gredos sandy soils with gneiss and pink granite in the village of the same name. The grapes were whole-cluster cold macerated for 40 days in concrete,... read more →
From the Vinos de Madrid appellation, and the quartet of monkeys who work there, comes an old vine albillo, a very disrespected Spanish grape making a strong comeback. The grapes... read more →
From the granitic Gredos mountains in the Vinos de Madrid DO, 80km west of the city, comes another stunner at an easy price from four friends onto a good thing.... read more →