Wine of the Week! 09/23/24

Bodegas y Vinedos Bernabeleva
Camino de Navaherreros Blanco

Normally $23.99 / Now on Sale for $17.96
Albillo, Malvar, Macabeo, Moscatel (Madrid DO)

Long before the Romans occupied the provinces of Lusitania and Tarraconensis, outside of what is now Madrid, the people there would dedicate their forests to the goddess of the hunt. Of course, the rite involved wine. Today, the logo for Bodegas y Vinedos Bernabeleva pays homage to their area’s pagan history by having a silhouette of the goddess riding a bear on their labels.

In 1923, Dr. Vicente Álvarez-Villamil bought the Bernabeleva estate in San Martín de Valdeiglesias — a village west of Madrid, sitting at the foot of Cerro de Guisando (Stewing Hill), coming off of the Sierra de Gredos mountains. Once he had the property, he planted Garnacha, dreaming of making wine. Sadly, the coming of Franco killed that dream, as fascism tends to do. In 2006, Vincente’s great-grandchildren, Juan Diez and Santiago Matallana Bulnes stepped forward to bring the family’s old dream alive. They hired a vineyard manager and winemaker who set them on the path to creating a low intervention winery.

Though Garnacha is their love and is the backbone of their Camino de Navaherroeros Tinto, Bernabeleva also makes this lovely Camino de Navaherreros Bianco using biodynamically grown white grapes — mostly Albillo. After pressing, they give the grapes a few hours of skin contact. After fermentation, low intervention, and low sulfur use, they age the wine in neutral wood, producing a bright wine with citrus notes and pleasantly surprising layers.

Bet you could get a good hunt if you used this wine for you dedication … though you might not want to share it with the goddess. (Don’t worry. We won’t tell her.)