Wines of La Vuelta Stage 17: Envinate Vina de Aldea

 

Ortigueira - A Coruña 190.7 km

And they are back from a rest day with a likely to be dull sprint stage. Rest day news? More withdrawals including Uran, who was clearly ill the last few stages. and the rarely spotted Zubeldia. Not too many sprinters left at this point: Matthews, Boonen and Degenkolb the most prominent. Sure enough, the predictable early breakaway to start the day: Dennis (BMC), Mas (CJR), Favilli (LAM), Teklehaimanot (MTN) y Jungels (TFR). They would get a gap, but it never got very large as those remaining sprinters were determined to challenge the stage. Sixty kilometers to go and it was under four minutes and it kept coming down. Forty kilometers and it was three minutes. Twenty kilometers and down to two minutes. 
The finish, by the way, has some cobbles. Perhaps that will inspire Boonen? Thirteen kilometers to go and just about one minute of a gap remained. Ten kilometers to go and indeed the gap was finally under one minute. Dripped from the break: Teklehaimanot. Five kilometers to go and forty seconds were left of the gap. Meanwhile on Podium Cafe the talk had turned to folding sheets. No, really. 
Hey, Sky at the front of the peolton. Protecting Froome on the cobbles? At three kilometers, a seventeen second gap still. One kilometer to go and still a slight gap. But they would be caught. At the end, the expected sprint between Matthews and Degenkolb. But at the end, also as expected Degenkolb with the stage win.

Stage: John Degenkolb

Today's top-10 #LaVuelta pic.twitter.com/rkKtZxHovm
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) September 10, 2014

GC:  

1.	ESPCONTADOR, Alberto	201	Tinkoff - Saxo	67h 51' 07''
2.	ESPVALVERDE, Alejandro	151	Movistar Team	67h 52' 43''	+ 1' 36''
3.	GBRFROOME, Christopher	191	Team SKY	67h 52' 46''	+ 1' 39''
4.	ESPRODRIGUEZ, Joaquin	131	Team Katusha	67h 53' 36''	+ 2' 29''
5.	IRLMARTIN, Daniel	102	Garmin Sharp	67h 57' 24''	+ 6' 17''
6.	NEDGESINK, Robert	34	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	67h 57' 50''	+ 6' 43''
7.	ESPSÁNCHEZ, Samuel	41	BMC Racing Team	67h 58' 02''	+ 6' 55''
8.	ITACARUSO, Damiano	65	Cannondale Pro Cycling	68h 00' 17''	+ 9' 10''
9.	ESPNAVARRO, Daniel	71	Cofidis Solutions Crédits	68h 00' 31''	+ 9' 24''
10.	ESPMORENO, Daniel	137	Team Katusha	68h 03' 21''	+ 12' 14''

Wine: Envinate Vina de Aldea 2012
From Frankly Wines: Mencia grape, a selection from Alice's Wine Society and I just happen to have a couple left over bottles that haven't migrated to the shelf. It's from a group that focuses on "Atlantic" wines from Spain and Portugal 
More from Christy here.


From the importer: Envínate (Wine Yourself) is the brainchild of 4 friends, winemakers Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos, and José Martínez.  This gang of 4 formed back in 2005 while studying enology at the University of Miguel Hernandez in Alicante.  Upon graduation, they formed a winemaking consultancy, which evolved into Envínate, a project that focuses on exploring distinctive parcels mainly in the Atlantic-inflected  regions of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands.  Their collective aim is to make profoundly pure and authentic wines that express the terruño of each parcel in a clear and concise manner.  To this end, no chemicals are used in any of the Envínate vineyards, all parcels are picked by hand, the grapes are foot-trodden, and the wines are fermented exclusively with wild yeasts, with a varying proportion of whole grape clusters included. For aging, the wines are raised in old barrels and sulfur is only added at bottling, if needed. The results are some of the most exciting and honest wines being produced in Spain today.

Viña de Aldea: Aldea means “village” in Gallego; thus, this is Envínate’s “village wine”, produced from a combination of –minimum- 60-year-old plots located in the ancient vineyard region of Ribeira Sacra.  This cuvee is made up of 90-95% Mencía with other co-planted varietals blended in.  The native vines are grown on steep slopes made of slate and sit in between 400-600 meters elevation.  This vintage Viña de Aldea was foot-trodden in open top plastic tubs, fermented spontaneously with wild yeasts, with 40% whole clusters included, and raised in old barrels for 11 months with no racking and no SO2 added until bottling.  It is a very fresh and elegant vino tinto with classic, lifted aromatics of black pepper, pomegranate, and herbs, which leads to an elegant and crystalline palate with loads of saveur, peppery tannins, and a dry finish.  This is more than a village wine in our book, but a superb example of Ribeira Sacra and a wonderful benchmark for the region. 300 – 6 packs produced

I say: How could I resist one of Alice's picks? This is an easy to drink wine. Currants and berries, black pepper and herbs.That earthiness that Christy did not get a chance to revisit was indeed clearly apparent on day two.