Wine of the Week
Salia 2020 - Finca Sandoval
D.O. - Manchuela
Varieties – Bobal/Syrah
ABV - 13.5%
£21 from The Sourcing Table (12% off 6+ bottles)
Hands up who's been to La Mancha? Ok, you may have been to Toledo or Cuenca…but keeping your hands up, who’s been to Casas-Ibáñez? I’m guessing most of the hands went down then? Well, let me transport you to the region of Manchuela for a moment. The most powerful memory of visiting the vineyards surrounding the town was that it felt like someone was pointing a huge human-sized hair dryer at me…the wind was hot! Ok, I’m from Northern England and it was July, but even so, hot breeze was hitting me! It felt strange! Maybe being from Manchester I could have weaved in some Fergie-like ‘hairdryer treatment’ type link in there…but I’m on a deadline and it’s supposed to be about wine…then again Sir Alex does like wine!
Anyway, I was there to see a small side project of a bulk winery. The son of the owner was given some freedom from the family business and was desperate to show off the freshness on offer in Manchuela, of which there was lots! Since the trip, I’ve strengthened his argument by supping plenty of Bodegas Ponce’s wine and he’s definitely onto something! Therefore I was super excited to come across Finca Sandoval - not a million miles away from my favourite town of the Albacete province (ok, it’s a small sample!).
Digging a little deeper into Finca Sandoval, I discovered there’s one of Spain's great young talents applying his skills wonderfully to the range, Javier Revert. I have literally just ordered some Sensal unknowingly…man, I’m behind the curve! But the history of the Bodega stretches back a little further than that to ‘98, when Victor de la Serna, a journalist, created the estate along with Rafael Orozco.
Anyway, back to the glass…well it’s a blend of Bobal and Syrah, giving lots of dark fruit…thinking blackberries and blueberries. There’s a nice spice to it and it’s super generous. It goes on forever! The fruit creates a really friendly wine that just makes you happy when drinking it. It’s quite straightforward, simple even, so I can see some people thinking it’s a little overpriced (so buy 6 for 12% discount!), but I would argue that it’s the precision that makes it good value. There’s a purity and freshness which I admire. It’s such a pleasure to drink, that as the world crumbles around us, I’m happy with the price tag. Salud!