Taco Tuesday Wine Club

Taco Tuesday Wine Club

As the title suggests, easy, enjoyable, and not too serious. These are wines that are versatile, delicious, and meant to be drank at any given moment. We choose these wines for their value and deliciousness. Quaffable!

One can't go wrong with these, nor will they break the bank.

Taco Tuesday Club Vol. 20

España! They won the World Cup; they make a lot of wine; they have been making wine for a very long time, but that’s not it. Each wine represents a traditional take on winemaking, exceptional value, and a perfect example of why Spain is one of the most exciting wine regions in the universe.

Across Catalonia, Rioja, and the Canary Islands, Raventós i Blanc Conca del Riu Anoia Blanc de Blancs 2023, R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Viña Cubillo Crianza 2018, and Tierra Fundida Cercado del Pino Blanco 2022 share a commitment to ancestral viticulture and site-specific purity.

Though radically different in style, each wine rejects commercial trends, highlighting Spain's diverse geological history through indigenous grapes. Raventós draws on fossil-rich marine limestone to give native xarel·lo, macabeu, and parellada crisp, saline energy. Meanwhile, López de Heredia relies on patient, multi-year neutral oak aging in Rioja Alta to build savory, leather-and-dried-cherry depth in tempranillo. Off the coast of Africa, Tierra Fundida captures Tenerife’s volcanic landscape, fermenting listán blanco, albillo criollo, and verdello in clay and concrete to lock in ocean salinity and smoky mineral weight. Together, these 3 producers prioritize structural tension, low-intervention cellaring, and authentic regional identity.

Conca del Riu Anoia Brut Blanc de Blancs Raventos 2023 $28.00

The Raventós family has farmed their continuous estate in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia since 1497, spanning 21 generations of viticulture. In 1872, Josep Raventós Fatjó produced Spain’s first traditional-method sparkling wine; in other words, Josep invented Cava.

Driven by a desire for uncompromising quality and strict origin, current winemaker Pepe Raventós took a historic step in 2012: he led the estate to break away from the Cava DO appellation formally. In its place, they established Conca del Riu Anoia, a hyper-specific, terroir-driven designation centered on the Anoia River valley.

The standards for Conca del Riu Anoia are among the strictest in the world of sparkling wine: 100% organic and biodynamic farming, exclusive use of indigenous varieties, 100% estate-grown fruit, mandatory vintage dating, and a minimum of 18 months of aging on the lees. The soils here are defined by 16-million-year-old marine limestone packed with fossilized seashells, which imparts a distinct mineral drive and salty tension to the wines.

Produced from estate vineyards in the pebble-strewn Anoia River valley, this organic sparkling wine combines xarel-lo, macabeu, and parellada. The Raventós family manages these plots under strict biodynamic viticulture protocols to enhance the natural minerality of the calcareous soils. The hand-harvested grapes undergo a native yeast fermentation without commercial enhancements. Aged on fine lees for eighteen months before a zero-dosage disgorgement, it delivers a pure site-driven identity.

It shows a clear straw hue, releasing a perfumed nose of crisp green orchard fruit, fresh lemon rind, and wild fennel. On the palate, the light-to-medium body is refreshingly crisp and agile, driven by a sharp wave of maritime acidity. Flavors of fresh citrus fold into a textured mid-palate that shows a distinct element of limestone structure. A clean thread of minerality runs through the center, keeping the fluid mouthfeel balanced. It finishes completely dry, leaving a lingering, mouthwatering trace of sea salt.

R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Vina Cubillo Crianza 2018 $35.00

What I love about LDH is their ultra traditionalist. This is their early-drinking wine, and they still age it for 8 years; that seems unfathomable, especially for a wine that retails for $35. This is not really a Taco Tuesday wine, ready to pour. Decant it or open it and let it breathe for 30 minutes, then watch it evolve through the night.

I visited the labyrinthine, cobweb-draped cellars of R. López de Heredia in Haro, this summer. Viña Cubillo reveals itself as a charmingly deceptive wine, legally a modest "Crianza"—a classification that usually mandates just 1 year in barrel. LDH treats Cubillo with a radical disregard for modern commercial timelines by aging it in oak barrels for 3 years, followed by another 4 to 5 years of cellar maturation in bottle before release. María José López de Heredia often jokes that their entry-level Crianza is older than most neighboring wineries' Gran Reservas.

At the winery, Cubillo holds a warm, personal place as the family’s daily table wine; this is the bottle pulled for casual mid-week lunches. It is sourced from a 24-hectare vineyard plot historically known as "La Tercera", situated at an elevation of 410 meters on clay-limestone soils near the Ebro River. The blend relies heavily on tempranillo complemented by healthy proportions of garnacha, mazuelo, and graciano, which give it a slightly sunnier, fleshier personality than its more austere cellar mates.

A bright garnet red with ruby rim variations gives way to aromatics of dried cranberry, cherry preserves, leather, and soft incense. The palate yields focused flavors of red plum, black pepper, cedar, and tea leaf, backed by silky, fine-grained tannins and a bright beam of natural acidity. It displays a light, nimble weight on the mid-palate that keeps the liquid feeling fresh and energetic. The finish is long, dry, and savory, concluding with lingering notes of bitter orange peel and crushed stone.

Tierra Fundida Cercado del Pino Blanco 2022 $25.00

Behind Tierra Fundida ("molten earth") is husband-and-wife team Loreto Pancorbo and Gabriel (Gabi) Morales, crafting low-intervention volcanic wines from their family home in Tenerife. Located in Los Baldíos near San Cristóbal de La Laguna, their cellar is integrated directly into their house, where they raise their 3 children alongside vegetable gardens and free-range livestock.

This white wine is a multi-vessel blend combining listán blanco, albillo criollo, and verdello from the Finca Cercado del Pino vineyard. Located six-hundred and twenty meters elevation on Tenerife, the organic vines thrive in porous volcanic soils heavily influenced by Atlantic winds. The three native varieties are vinified separately according to their properties, utilizing concrete vats, clay amphorae, and open-top wood vats. Spontaneous fermentation relies on native wild yeasts before the lots co-mature for six months in the cellar.

It shows a pale straw hue with amber reflections, opening with intricate aromas of charred lemon peel, green apple skin, and wild seaside herbs. A medium-bodied frame balances a broad, texturally rich mouthfeel with a smoky note of struck flint. The partial skin contact provides an understated structural grip that coordinates nicely across mid-palate volume. A crystalline core of razor-sharp salinity cuts through the fruit weight, maintaining great freshness.

Till next month…