ABEL-MENDOZA-AND-HIS-WHITE-WINES

In the winter of 99, without knowing very well why, I decided to dedicate myself to the world of wine, I imagine that I liked it a lot, although until that moment, I had no experience in the distribution of any type of drink. On my first trip, alone, one really cold morning with a fog that scared, I visited my first winery in order to distribute it in Murcia, Abel Mendoza Monge. Since then, as you can imagine, we have lived many things together, better and worse moments, as happens to all of us. If I had to sum it up, I can say that since then and until today, my respect and my admiration towards Abel and Maite, and their work. They are friends, and on them and their wines I could write thousands of pages, a very huge book that may not interest anyone, so I will be brief in my reflection.

12-15 years ago they presented Abel Mendoza in El País (very important newspaper from Spain) as "the enlightened winemaker", and they were quite possibly right. Today a fair assessment of Abel goes much further, it has become the best vigneron in Spain, at the height of the best vignerones in France (Laval, Leclapart, Richard Leroy, Ganevat ...). But above all, and this is the most important thing, is the reference for all the young vignerones that are revolutionizing Rioja today.

And it is not an assessment of mine, but unanimous. Without going any further, Tom Akins, in his three classifications of Rioja wines, has chosen as Tentenublo Winery by Roberto Olivan, Sierra de Toloño by Sandra Bravo and Ojuel by Miguel Martínez. For all of them the reference is Abel Mendoza, and not any of the top wineries that obtain 105 Parker points, nor the large ones that invoice astronomical figures.

The hands of Abel Mendoza speak for themselves, transmit all the energy of the earth, the vineyard, the grapes ... They are large and powerful. You shake his hands and automatically know that this man is not going to fool you. They are the hands of a farmer, who works manually and personally 20 hectares of his own distributed in 30 plots, possibly the most respected and best worked vineyards in Spain. Do not label his wines as ecological, neither biodynamic, nor natural, this media paraphernalia is not interested. He is one among a few whose name is a guarantee of a lot of honesty, a lot of work and much authenticity.

The natural means of expression of any winery is through its wines. Same as a writer does it through his books or a film director through his movies. In the same way, Abel Mendoza's wines have evolved parallel to his vital evolution, from the local to the universal, without ever losing their most authentic essence. They can be elaborated, and Abel proves it, native wines, full and direct to the heart, and sophisticated, hedonistic and thoughtful wines, direct to the mind. And they can be drunk, exactly the same, in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Toronto, Berlin or New York.

For Abel and Maite the winery, more than a business, is their passion and way of life, and their
wines perfectly express their work and their character. And this is not usual, since most wineries say and say, and then nothing at all. We understand it better when we analyze how the wineries manage the gap between a very high demand and a very limited supply.

The vast majority, following the dictates of Business Schools around the world, either increase prices or increase production, to balance supply and demand and increase economic benefits. However, Abel doesn't care that some of his wines, including all whites, sell out in a few days. Parallel to his trips all over the world to get to know the best vignerones and taste their wines, Abel goes deeper into his work, not in social networks (he still doesn't have a website), he buys miniparcelas from very old vines and unproductive, recover forgotten varieties, try new winemaking, keep attending personally to their usual customers, and their prices rise less than the-CPI.

Abel Mendoza structures his wines in three ranges. White wines are made based on the different varieties, the young reds according to the type of soil, and the aged reds respond to the different plots. Six white wines, five varietals (Viura, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca, Torrontes and Tempranillo Blanco) and a mixture of said five varieties (5V). Abel is the great white wine maker in La Rioja, not for quantity, since it only produces 10-12000 bottles per year, but for its quality and diversity, since it shows with great precision the identity character of each variety.

Everyone enjoys the same viticulture and winemaking (aging with lees for 5-6 months in new French oak barrels), and they are, as it should be, totally different between them. All of them are perfectly integrated from their bottling, without any dissonant note, with a perfect harmony between fruit-wood-alcohol, very pleasant to drink right now, and knowing that they evolve very well for at least 10-20 years. 2018 was a classic vintage, fresh and rainy (more than 750 liters compared to the usual 450-500), very suitable for white wines.

Viura, Malvasía and 5V are made every year, and are the cornerstone of the project.

The Viura is a safe value, as an investment in gold bullion, you know that over time you always win, a wine of great purity that over time becomes much more delicate and elegant.

The Malvasía seems like “easy to drink” at the beginning, it is serene hedonism, which makes you think, pleasure is only a small part of what you can find in it, light and at the same time deep, over the years it becomes blunt and-full.

The 5V is like the rainbow, if each color separately is magnificent, they all surprise us together, they mate with each other and multiply their virtues, they give us courage, strength and calm, without doubt one of the 4-5 best Spanish-white-wines.

Torrontes (many years called T, because the variety was prohibited), Garnacha Blanca and Tempranillo Blanco are much more difficult to find, very few bottles are made (between 300 and 900) and many years or bottled separately, to be able to be part of 5V. They have nothing to do with the previous ones or with each other. Neither better nor worse, but they are very scarce. You will have to discover them-for-yourselves-----the-surprise-factor-is-attractive.

In 2018 we got some boxes, and we believe that it is best to sell them immediately.

We have several consumption options, but I recommend, at least once, to taste the-six-wines together, and for 2-3 hours see how they evolve in the glass. Who can, should buy 6
bottles of each wine and repeat that joint tasting for six consecutive years, or lengthen it up to twelve years tasting every two years. However, I am convinced that the best thing is that each one buys, sells and drinks to his free will, when he wishes, without further explanation.