Spanish wine stories from Fenavin 2023 part two: Bodegas Salado
It was good to see wines from the province of Seville being presented at this year’s Fenavin, Spain’s national wine fair in Ciudad Real. They are less known in Spain than they deserve to be, and indeed further afield too.
The Aljarafe region, the westernmost part of Seville province is recognised for the production of mosto, the young, low-alcohol wines that are released in the autumn every year. In the Aljarafe town of Umbrete, this is celebrated in the annual Fiesta del Mosto. You can drink a mosto umbreteño in pretty much any bar there.
In the past, bodegas in Umbrete made base wines to be sent for ageing in the Marco de Jerez. Many of these producers went under when Jerez winemakers stopped buying from them. Despite this decline, Umbrete remains a town that retains its winemaking identity and culture.
This heritage is alive in Bodegas Salado, a family business established in 1810, and now run by a seventh generation of winemakers.
Francisco Salado explained their philosophy: “The local white grape variety, Garrido Fino, was at the point of disappearing. Our whole aim here is to recover it, do more with it and explore its potential for making quality wines.”
As Francisco took me through a tasting of Bodegas Salado’s range, it was evident that this late-ripening grape was highly versatile and capable of expressing a terroir identity rooted in the local albariza soils.
Finca Las Yeguas (13.7%)
This is the most emblematic wine of the bodega. This was a savoury Garrido Fino blanco with good volume. There was freshness and depth on the palate, with some nuttiness, mineral sensations and saline notes.
Umbretum Brut Nature (11.5%)
Traditional method made with 100% Garrido Fino. A dry and slightly spicy sparkler, with aromas of pear and apple, and some toasty notes from its barrel ageing. The palate had an attractive light bitterness and once again, some salinity from the Atlantic influences in the vineyard.
FY Bajo Velo (14.5%)
The bodega’s newest wine and according to Francisco, “our most individual expression of Garrido Fino.”
Fermented in stainless steel tanks before ageing under flor for 13 months in very old American oak botas, it had a pungent nose with all the characteristic aromas of biological ageing. Sapid, concentrated and very long. There are only 500 bottles of this unique wine.
The combination of local winemaking tradition and innovation is what Bodegas Salado are about. You can get these wines direct from their online store.