Bodegas Menade Sobrenatural 2014

Country: Spain
Region: Rueda
Varietal(s): 100% Verdejo
Maturation: 36 months
Alcohol: 13.5%

Sobrenatural is a noble wine, a homage to Nature, which weathers the passing of time by adapting itself to its changes. Earthly elements fuse with the future and all things come to pass, for this is a white wine made from our Verdeja, which we nurse for some three years until it begins to blossom. Artifice and makeup free, neither with any sulphur, it gently matures and evolves into something rather special along age old lines.

Harvesting: 

Picked manually

Vinification: 

Spontaneous fermentation on the basis of naturally occurring wild yeasts and subsequent malolactic incorporating its natural bacteria. No sulphur is added at any stage. Controlled oxidative ageing in used oak barriques and vats for 36 months; then left to settle and fine tune in bottle for 6 months prior to release.

Stabilization:

Clarified with bentonite, stabilizes naturally by virtue of the cold, in the very same barrique.

Colour: 

Golden, with the iridescence of old gold; clean and crystalline.

Nose: 

Minerally yet also reminiscent of wet earth; with fruit such asripe apple; and a certain sweetness too, with suggestions of custard, crème pâtissière and baked apples. A whiff of saltpetre too.

Palate: 

One’s first impression is of unctuousness and striking mouth-feel, yet it’s surprisingly and pleasingly delicate. The balanced interplay of not quite sweetness and subtle salinity works well and is intriguing; and one is left with a sensation of purity but melancholy and nostalgia too, as the art of making offerings such as this has largely been lost.