Text: Mara de Miguel @by_marademiguel| Cover photo: A glass of bubbly wine in front of the sea or next to a pool and life becomes much kinder.
Reading time: 8 minutes
Montilla-Moriles bubbles are for summer! We tell you which are those wines that, very cold, are the ideal companions to accompany you on these hot days, whether you are on vacation or not. We review the “classics” and those to come…
We have already talked about the ideal wines for having a barbecue, the best pairings for the nights when you want to feel like a chef and delight your friends on your terrace, but now that we have reached the halfway point of summer, it is time to talk about the quintessential wines of the summer season: long live the bubbles! And yes, in the Montilla Moriles area, the wineries produce wines that will refresh your palate on these long days at the pool and/or beach, and let’s be clear, the photo on the mat with a glass of sparkling wine or in front of the bubbling sea… always improves Instagram likes .
Nothing better than starting a meeting with a welcome drink. Breaking the ice has never been as easy as doing it with a glass of wine.
1. Robles Brut Nature, the pioneering bubbles
This wine of second fermentation in the bottle (Champanoise or Classic Method) was the one that opened the melon to a new era of tiny bubbles derived from a pressure of around two atmospheres, and that make the flavor of the Pedro Ximénez grapes stand out.
Among its fans it has created a real sensation and last Christmas, there was no one who did not want one of the precious green bottles with a silver label from Bodegas Robles to toast the beginning of the new year with these bubbles. If you missed trying it, now is a good time, because there are again more units for sale!
2. Bodegas Delgado Brut, just around the corner
Bodegas Delgado have been the next to pick up the baton and, starting in September, they will have the pre-sale of about 1,000 bottles of these Classic Method sparkling wines made from 100% Pedro Ximénez grapes to go out on the streets and toast at the parties with wines and bubbles of the earth.
These bottles are going to fly, as happened with those from Bodegas Robles, so we recommend, for anyone who wants to try them, to write down the date and call the winery to reserve. At We Love Montilla Moriles we have had the opportunity to try the wine, with all its lees, in a special disgorgement, and the truth is that – although we tried it ahead of time, in advance – this sparkling wine promises.
Sparkling wines are served at a temperature of 7ºC – colder than the rest. This way they release less carbon gas and are more pleasant.
3. Pérez Barquero, bubbles with a generous soul
It is an open secret, but at Bodegas Peréz Barquero they are also preparing to soon put another sparkling wine on the shelves that they have taken great care of for four years. Here, where they know well that all good things have to wait – they have had the patience to have 75-year-old Amontillados like Montearruit – taking care of a wine for four years is a piece of cake for them.
What is special about its sparkling wine is precisely the use of G-1 flor yeast (known as La Madre, or La Flor) in fortified wines. After several studies, it has been shown that this yeast has many advantages for making wines that have to undergo double fermentation in the same bottle and facilitates, according to Juan Carlos García, Professor of Microbiology at the UCO (University of Córdoba), the operation. of disgorging with subsequent removal of the lees (dead yeasts or heads).
The yeasts used in question are from Bodegas Gracia, property of the Pérez Barquero Group, which were isolated during the mid-1980s. In this study, in which the winery has participated, it is shown that flor yeast (from the Sacharomycess Cerevisae strain) obtains more advantages over traditional yeasts in foam production and aromas in sparkling wines. Another novelty is that, for the first time, an old fortified wine has been used as an expedition liquor, which is what the bottle is filled with after disgorging and before going on the market, with the wine already filtered.
Frizzante is an Italian word used to name a “bubbly wine.” In our country, since the ’90s it has been used to distinguish those effervescent, light wines, usually sweet and of lower price than sparkling wines.
FRIZZANTES THE NEW TREND, BUBBLES WITH LOW DEGREE
The frizzantes have also arrived in the area – or have begun to be made – to stay and succeed. More and more you find them on tables, accompanying simple appetizers or as a final culmination for any special occasion. Also, now in summer, very cold they are perfect to drink while we float with our drink on that pool mat.
4. Frizzante The Eternal Smile
Among these frizzantes that have conquered the tables – and the hearts – of lovers of effervescence, is La Eterna Sonrisa, from Lagar La Primilla – a slightly sparkling wine, with a sweet touch and an alcohol content of 7%, made with grapes. Pedro Ximénez from the oldest vines of one of the oldest plots of this winery in the heart of the Sierra de Montilla. In fact, these days at the beginning of August the night harvest is being carried out for the production of this wine, so that the grapes arrive fresh, and have better fermentation and thus more aromas are preserved in the wine.
5. Frizzante Rosado Delgado and Frizzante Blanco Delgado, wines for young palates
The creators of the fine Feo and Manolo, at Bodegas Delgado in Puente Genil, dare to create the most refreshing and low-alcohol bubbles with 5% alcohol. In two versions, Frizzante Rosado and Frizzante Blanco, these partially fermented musts are very refreshing thanks to their bubbly carbonation that will delight the younger public and all those who want to enjoy several glasses of wine, fresh and with many aromas of fruit.
In Spain, rosés have been considered a lesser wine although this misconception is changing. There have been large doses of creativity in recent years and in our country its consumption has grown a lot.
6. The three Rose, a rosé with a hook that makes you fall in love
The slightly carbonated touch of The Three Rose rosé, despite not being a sparkling wine in a standard definition, makes it palatable and with a lot of nerve. Made in Moriles Alto, in the Casablanca Winery, when you take a sip, you come across a bubble, which from time to time quickly disappears and gives way to this very red fruit rosé with 6.5% alcohol and which is made from Syrah and Tempranillo grapes.
A FUTURE FULL OF CARBONIC DIOXIDE
Others that are already on their way, thanks to the agreement of the IFAPA (Agrarian Research and Information Institute) of Cabra are those of the San Jerónimo SCA Wine Cooperative, of Moriles, which will be the next sparkling wines to join the list, in this case the Torrontés grape variety , which is the white variety of the area and with great versatility – although its benefits have yet to be discovered in the Montilla-Moriles region.
Thanks to this agreement, this aromatic variety will be valued, focusing on single-varietal and sparkling white wines that, in other areas of the world, such as Argentina, result in delicious wines.