Telmo Rodriguez Molino Real Mountain Blanco 2023

Mountain Blanco carries on the legacy of the mountain wines of Málaga, in Andalusia, in the Sierras de Málaga appellation. The very old bush-trained Muscat of Alexandria vines are planted on the extreme slopes of the villages of Cómpeta and Árchez, between 550 and 1,000 metres above sea level. These steep schist and slate hillsides, worked entirely by hand, look out over the Mediterranean and give the wine its saline freshness.

The grapes are harvested by hand on these dizzying slopes. For a slow, gentle extraction from the thick skins, they are pressed in an old olive-oil press fitted with mats. The must ferments to dryness, then the wine is aged for six months in stainless-steel tanks, to preserve the aromatic purity of the Muscat and the mineral tension of the terroir.

This wine reveals notes of white flowers, lemon peel, orange zest, honey, mango, passion fruit, sea salt, smoke. The golden colour with green glints heralds an intense nose. On the palate, this dry wine combines the natural sweetness of Muscat with mineral tension; the texture is frank, carried by vibrant acidity that draws out a clean, precise finish.

The history of wine in Spain is so ancient that no one really knows who first brought the vines to the region. By the time the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was already well established, and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a winemaking miracle. After years on the sidelines of the world of fine wines, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in vineyards and wineries are resulting in increasingly rich, complex (often high in alcohol), and spicy reds that are gaining popularity with international consumers. Proud to have more land dedicated to vines than any other country, Spain is only now beginning to capitalize on this resource in a consistent way. Spain is a chaotic jumble of regions and subregions, much like its landscape is a chaotic jumble of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the lush, green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the parched vineyards of the southeastern Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace for viticulture is the average altitude of its vineyards, which is over 600 meters. Many Spanish vineyards are thus able to produce grapes with good color and acidity simply because nighttime temperatures are relatively low and the grapes don't ripen until after a sufficiently long growing season. But there is a real treasure trove to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all sorts of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine. Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun to craft spectacular wines and experiment with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.