Wine of the Week

Forlong Rosado 2021 (Bodega de Forlong – El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz)

IGP: Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz

Variety - 100% Tintilla de Rota

ABV - 14,0%

€10,90 from Bodeboca

Bodega de Forlong is a small winery based outside the town of El Puerto de Santa María in Cádiz province. Created in 2007 when Alejandro Narváez and Rocío Áspera took over an old finca known as El Olivar de Forlón. The new owners took advantage of the original name and added a ‘g’ to suggest that this is a project that will last “for a long time”.

Forlong Rosado is made from grapes of the local Tintilla de Rota variety, grown on the chalky albariza soils in the Pago de Balbaína vineyard.

This is a rosado de lágrima, a wine made with the first grape must from the pressing, which has minimal maceration or contact with the skins. The must is fermented at a controlled temperature in a stainless steel tank to preserve primary aromas. After time spent on its lees in another sealed tank, the wine is bottled without any filtering.

This is a very pale, pink wine with hints of orange. On the nose it’s fragrant and shows ripe sweet fruit, including red berries and rhubarb. In the mouth it’s slightly creamy, soft and rounded. There’s a note of citrus, but without really pronounced acidity. Not a very punchy wine, but a nice expression of a variety that is naturally sweet, and a contrast to the more concentrated reds that several producers are making with Tintilla.