Champagne, tempranillo

Fontana Bodegas & Viñedos is a leading producer of Estate wines, owning over 600 hectares, and managing a further 400 hectares of sustainably farmed, high-altitude vineyards in Castile, Central Spain.

Jesús Cantarero, the current owner, has now brought together a highly experienced, eclectic, multi-national team of wine professionals, including Sam Harrop MW, who produce authentic, contemporary wines of great purity and freshness.

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Located in the heart of the Cariñena Denomination of Origin, one of the historical and emerging areas of Aragon in North-Eastern Spain, 100% of Bodegas Care's wines come from our own vineyards.

This 'Trio" is a blend of Garnacha, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon and is bursting with bright cherries, raspberries & blackberries. The wine exhibits concentration and smoothness typical of the region. A wine with a fresh Face. BODEGAS CARE

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No, this is not just another "Light Dry Red" playing to the recent fads but a serious nod to the 'Burgundies' of the 50's 60's and 70's which Nick Spencer is paying homage to. These were classic light-bodied Shiraz and Shiraz/ Pinot blends that emerged from the Hunter and are highly sort after now. They are back in fashion and tasting this it's not hard to understand why.

The style can be a little hit or miss and getting that combo of pinot and shiraz just right is critical, which Nick has done a brilliant job of here. A touch of sour cherry, cranberry and strawberries that plays off broodier black currant and blackberry fruit swirling around in the background. It's served on a palate that is crunchy and vibrant with lovely fine structure and soft melting tannins. Great poise between the fruit and other elements and while this is wonderfully easy to enjoy there is a plenty going on here that belies the seriousness of the wine.

While its ready to go now and easy to love if you put a couple of bottles away for just a couple of years or so I think you would be a very happy camper!

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This wine has dropped the Bozeto styling and is now simply called Exopto. New name, same vibrant, great-value Rioja. This pan-regional expression of Rioja’s three principal grape varieties is conceived as a lively, easy-drinking introduction to the range. Most entry-level wines from this region are based on Tempranillo (a variety easier and more profitable to grow), yet here Garnacha represents 65% of the blend. This Garnacha hails from very old vines in the sandy, river-stone terroirs of El Agudo and Al Casillón at Alfaro (Rioja Oriental). The Tempranillo is drawn from a selection of mature vines in Ábalos (high-county Rioja Alta), and some Ábalos Graciano adds freshness and finesse.

The wine ferments in a combination of concrete and steel tank, then ages for six months in concrete and 5,000-litre oak vats. These days, Tom includes a measure of semi-carbonic maceration for extra buoyancy. Opening with perfumes of dusky berries and well-judged spice, this is a wonderfully aromatic, restaurant-friendly wine. It’s a wine that impresses with its precision rather than power. Even so, the warmer year gives an open, juicy wine and a great deal of drinking pleasure: spice, vibrancy and velvety flow flecked with notes of espresso, dried flowers and wild woody herbiness to go with its smoky blackberry fruit. If you’re looking for a bright, succulent grower Rioja, few will deliver better value than this.

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A pristine and primary Toro with spices and baked cherries. The juicy, medium- to full-bodied palate is wrapped by fresh, tight tannins before a medium-length finish. Vegan. Drink within the next three-to-four years. (90) JAMES SUCKLING

Matsu is more than a winery or a wine; it is a modern project of sustainable viticulture out of the Toro region in western Spain. Use of biodynamic agriculture through all its vineyards are cultivated in a form that is completely ecological, avoiding any use of chemical or synthetic herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides.

El Picaro´ is a young wine of the author that was born out of the process of biodynamic viticulture. With this wine comes the completion of the collection of Matsu, a trilogy that is surprising for its ability to unite power with elegance. ´El Picaro´ continues to pay a tribute to the viticulturists that have dedicated their lives to the vineyards. As the youngest generation in the Matsu line, El Picaro embodies the characteristics of a strong young man, valiant, impertinent, and uncontrollable.

The 2016 Xerico that we are offering today is an ode to the wines that Roberto's ancestors drank - Rioja without oak maturation. In place of the oak is cement and chestnut foudre's. The other connection with the past is that the wine contains 15% of the white grape Viura whilst the balance is Tempranillo.

Xerico is the name of the soil 'Xeric Torriothent'! This is a carlcareous marl soil from the Tertiary era on eroded slopes.

This wine is from three plots - El Pedrón, La Entrada and La Fuente Colas. The age of the vines range from 15 to 50 years old.

Fermentation is completed with natural yeasts in stainless steel and cement vats to retain freshness and minerality. As I mentioned above this wine doesn't see any oak and is aged for five months in cement vats and chestnut foudres.

Don't think of this as Joven style - it is much more serious. 

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Comprising of almost all Mencía with just a dash of Tempranillo and Sousón, this expressive, light bodied wine captures the very essence of Ribeira Sacra, grown on slopes above the River Sil so vertiginous they can only be worked by hand. Flavours of blueberries, blackcurrants, and herbs with fresh, lifted acidity. BARRICA WINES

Claríto is a tribute to the deep traditions of Rioja, updated perhaps. ‘Back in the day’ such wines were the epitome of a Village Rioja. In little towns, a small amount of Viura would trickle in, but it would take days to fill a press, so it was ‘little-by-little’ adding whatever correctly-picked fruit came in until a batch was ready, first white then later some red.

In 2022, the Viura was picked (September 14th), de-stemmed and macerated for 3 days or so until the red was ready to pick. This was added as 100% whole bunch Garnacha atop the white. After a couple of days co-maceration, it was gently pressed to a yield of just 65%. The young Clarete must was then left to ferment spontaneously in combination of a 3,200L raw concrete vat and a 2,000L stainless tank. Working with lots of skins, the fermentation started easily and was done in 8 days. The young wine and its fine lees were then aged in gorgeous raw concrete cubes for 8 months (a portion aged in a single old 1,000 litre foudre), stirred occasionally to protect from reduction During this time, natural malolactic conversion happens to create balance and palate structure. No sulphur additions are made to the wine.

Label artwork by Leah Teschendorff.

The subtle orange look of Claríto ‘22 is matched on the nose with a line of tangerine skin. This fragrance plays beautifully around an air of ‘dust in a Rioja vineyard’, along with faded roses. Dried silage (including a hint of pickle) and sea shell smells tell of Viura grown in chalk. The nose is deep, bell-clear, like smelling the water in a well, many feet down, below the dust, the heat, the haze. Cool and still. The throat develops a deep compulsive tickle of desire to swallow. One is drawn in. In the mouth, there’s savoury roundness backlit citric with orange and golden persimmon, crabapples, brushed steel earthiness, faded florals. Steel magnolias and cherry skins in short. It’s edged by deep chalky minerality and run through with tangible energy … a circle with a line through it. Plenty of skinsy-tannin mouthfeel gives ungrippy grip, presence without tension.

Crianza red wine made from the varieties Tempranillo (90%), Garnacha (5%) and a small percentage of other native varietals, sourced exclusively from vineyards located in Rioja Alavesa. After a manual picking, all the grapes are hand-selected using vibration and selection tables. Long macerations and intracellular fermentations with indigenous yeasts in conic stainless-steel tanks. Natural extraction by gravity. 14 month ageing in French and American oak barrels.

Intense cherry color of upper middle layer. Aromas of black fruit and compote, spaces and dairy stand out. The palate is elegant, fresh and silky and shows a long aftertaste.

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An unfiltered, organic, 'generic' Rioja, blending the south and north shores of the Rio Ebro: Garnacha from Monte Yerga and Tempranillo from Haro. Álvaro's precise-yet-barely-tutored wines gently but unfailingly reflect the earth in which they grow, and this hallmark is seen in spades here. 4 months in barrique.

Smelling for all the world like an apple orchard in blossom (flowers, leaves and tree boughs), the Garnacha in this is really pretty, and marries beautifully to the grey-clay smell of the damp soils up under Mount Yerga out back of Alfaro. Crisper in tannin-line than unwooded Tempranillos such as LZ, and with a more pronounced, broader natural acidity, it's a very lively and linear Garnacha-based blend. Kee-runch! Both bright and earthily-fruited, this juicy little wine balances neat, modest tannins and soft red dirt acidity. Mid-weight at most, round and complete, gently spiced and perfumed, it's classy and delicious.

A bright, racy nose loaded with fruit, flowers, minerals and red cherries. Fine tannins unwind nicely with the fruit on the palate, with a medium body and a pretty long, precise finish. A co-fermentation from a co-planted vineyard over 60 years old in Abalos. 80% tempranillo, 10% garnacha tinto and 10% viura and other grapes, Half of the wine was aged in old concrete and the other half in used 500-liter oak barrels. Such a joy to drink now. ZEKUN SHUAI, JamesSuckling.com

The 2022 Colección de Viñedos is a village red with 80% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha and 10% Viura from four vineyards in Ábalos. It fermented in stainless steel with neutral yeasts. It feels a little like a carbonic-maceration red, but it fermented destemmed; it feels very young and primary, with a fruit-driven nose and a vinous palate, juicy and with very fine tannins and moderate acidity. 25,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2023. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

Balanced and supple, with notes of fresh plum, blackberry, tobacco leaf and liquorice. This is a juicy, fresh wine with bright acidity and a dry, chalky finish. DECANTER

Coleccion' is an assemblage of old bush vines (more than 60yo) from three parcelas, Peña Caída, Centenales y los Trepados, planted to Tempranillo with 10% each of Garnacha and Viura. These are field blends grown at just below 600m, yielding 4 tonnes/ha. Open tank fermentation of destemmed fruit, after a brief cold soak, 14 days fermentation and maceration, then malo transformation and 'aged' in raw concrete and 500L French oak casks for six months. Unfined. An incredible bargain!

Excellent depth and complexity here, showing graphite, pencil shavings, inky blackberries, dark earth funk, black cherries and some roasted spices. Medium to full body with plenty of tight but creamy tannins. Juicy, pretty long and youthful. 100% tempranillo. Better from 2024. ZEKUN SHUAI, JamesSuckling.com

Laderas de Cabama is 100% Tempranillo, crafted from a single plot of 40-year-old vines in Ollauri. It grows on the classic clay/limestone soil of the Rioja Alta. This single-vineyard bottling used to be made in a similar style to Valenciso’s flagship Reserva, in that it was built to age in barrel and bottle before release. From the 2018 vintage, Valenciso has sought to craft Laderas de Cabama in a younger, more fruit-forward style. The fruit is picked a little earlier and the winemaking employs a portion of whole-berry, semi-carbonic fermentation, bringing a more primary, juicy profile.

No new oak is used. Instead, fermentation occurs in cool concrete, followed by 14 months in used French oak barrels. The resulting wine is spicy and rich, with blackberry and plummy fruit, some spice and tobacco leaf notes from the whole-bunch fermentation. It boasts good depth and a tea-scented, full-bodied finish. Great on its own, this will also suit a wide variety of meat dishes.

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

ANDRE CLOUET (9/10) 

Bouzy and Ambonnay are the epicentre of pinot noir in Champagne, and the Clouet family is the priviledged custodian of eight hectares of estate vines in the best middle slopes of both villages.  These are rich and concentrated expressions of pinot noir, wines of deep complexity, multi faceted interest and engaging character, yet with remarkable restraint and sense of control.  Recent tastings confirm my impression that this small and relatively unknown grower ranks high among Champagne's finest practitioners of pinot noir - and expresses one of the best value of all.

100% Bouzy and Ambonnay pinot noir.  6g/L dosage
Release after release, year after year, I have always marvelled at the lemon blossom freshness that Clouet manages to capture in pinot noir from two of Champagne's most powerful terroirs.  Here it is again, in a captivating interplay of fleshy mirabelle plums, white peaches, crunchy golden delicious apples, and even a hint of pepper.  Wild honey and mixed spice join the maelstrom along the way, gliding obediently into a well defined finish of soft minerality and integrated dosage.  TYSON STELZER, The Champagne Guide 2014-2015

(100% Pinot Noir)The NV Brut Grande Reserve offers up layers of mineral-infused red fruits on a silky, mid-weight frame, with gorgeous length and a refined, subtle mousse. This impeccable, elegant wine shows terrific overall balance as well as complexity. I loved it. Andre Clouet is based in Bouzy, a village where Pinot Noir speaks with great eloquence, as is evident in these superb, pedigreed Champagnes. ANTONIO GALLONI, Robert Parker

100% Tinto Fino, from the towns of Villálvaro, Sotillo de la Ribera, Moradillo, Hontoria, Peñafiel, Quintana del Pidio, Anguix and Curiel de Duero. Average altitude of 850 to 900 meters, all in the province of Burgos and Valladolid. The grapes come from old vineyards between 35 and 100 years old. In French oak barrels for 428 days, having undergone malolactic fermentation in barrels for 10% of the final blend.

Smashed red and black fruits with that blue-note hit and spicy oak to top it off and little highlights of smokey, leather notes make for a heady and complex nose. Again, plenty of concentration for the mixed, wild berry fruit profile but never at the lack of freshness or energy. Firm but plush tannins grip the black fruits plastering them to the palate and driving home to a full and rich finish. Definitely see some oak here but it suits the style perfectly. PWS

Earthy, underbrush aromas with hints of fig, raspberry compote, cherry and herbal overtones. Bursting with red plum, spice and a mouthwatering layer of sour fruit. Peppery tannins and a toasty, warming finish. DECANTER

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The red 2019 La Calleja comes from a vineyard that could only be bottled in 2010, 2016 and 2018, as it has suffered everything—hail, frost or whatever. It's from a north-facing plot that was planted in 1992 in Fonzaleche on shallow sandstone soils on white limestone that is harvested late but keeps a moderate degree (14.2%). This 2019 feels darker than usual, with black rather than red fruit, but it is still vibrant on the palate with freshness and fine tannins. The vineyard is farmed organically (but not certified), and they started with regenerative agriculture in 2019. It had a long élevage of 23 months in foudres and 500-liter barrels. 5,200 bottles were filled in September 2021. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

La Calleja is a single hectare planted in 1992 by Eva with her father, when she was a little girl. 100% Tempranillo and typically yields 4500 litres (although the first vintage, 2010 produced just 3000 bottles). Its name means 'little street'. Mountainous, with lots of stone in the soil, Fonzaleche village produces light and fluid wines with excellent acid structure. Typical handling regime: lightly crushed (yielding only a half-litre per kilo of fruit), open fermentation in medium-sized old wood for 6 days without additions (total sulphur, 40mg/l).

Fruity-floral with violets, a fresh, mineral acidity and lovely texture, La Calleja is a genuine 'voice' distinct from the me-too choir of industrial-process Rioja.