Neal Martin, Mitarbeiter des renommierten Weinmagazins »
The Wine Advocate« verkostete für die Ausgabe 206/2013 auch
Pagos de Familias Weine. Den ›
Dominio de Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon 2008‹ aus der
D.O. Dominio de Valdepusa bewertet er mit 89/100 Punkten. Nachfolgend schreibt der Verkoster im Original:
„The ›2008 Dominio de Valdepusa Cabernet Sauvignon‹ expresses the variety with clarity and distinction on the nose, blackberry intermingling with cedar and pencil lead, although I would like to see more intensity. The palate is medium-bodied, with sappy black fruit, graphite-tinged blueberry, and a candied, mocha-tinged finish. Fine. Drink now-2016.
I was able to slot in a last minute visit to Dominio de Valdepusa in Montes de Toledo on my way back to Madrid, an essential visit given the history of this estate. The castle of Malpica has belonged to the Carlos Falco family since 1292, and it was granted the very first ‚Pago’ denomination in 2002. It is an enormous estate – from the entrance to the winery takes around ten minutes to drive past the beautiful Moorish landscape and olive groves. There are presently 52 hectares under vine, mainly international grape varieties such as
Cabernet Sauvignon and
Merlot (both introduced in 1974),
Syrah and
Petit Verdot. Their wines have been overseen by such luminaries as Dr. Richard Smart, Emile Peynaud and Michel Rolland. It was a pleasure to meet proprietor Carlos Falco Fernandez de Cordoba and his daughter Xandra, along with their oenologist, Julio Mourelle. Carlos, who graduated from UC Davis, was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Vinos de Pago denomination and was instrumental in promoting international varieties in the region. It was also interesting to speak at length with Mourelle. ‚I am feeling less afraid of making mistakes,’ he explained. ‚We don’t like the wines to be over-oaked at all – only one-quarter to one-third are new barrels. We are learning more and more about irrigation and achieving fine pH levels just by working empirically with hydrometers.’ Overall, this was a very impressive set of wines, quite modern in style but beautifully crafted.”
[af]
