MicroBio Wines Ruf y Ann Rufete | 2022

With strong ties to both Spain and Portugal, Rufete is a highly gulp-able variety that is not related to but reminds me of Trousseau. It produces a light red wine, with melty tannins, and big wild berry and plum flavors. When I first visited Spain in 2009, there was a lot of excitement and talk about this variety among winemakers in Castilla y León. It thrives in the western area, close to Portugal's Douro Valley, where granite and slate soils, steep slopes, and altitude over 800m, give the wine its alpine-like glide on the palate. This expression, from low-intervention winemaker Ismael Gozalo of MicroBio wines, ferments with partial stems and is aged in neutral Burgundy barrels. There's a little bit of funk but in a good way. Give the wine a quick decant and enjoy alongside roast chicken with herbed butter, pasta all 'amatriciana, or your favorite spicy Thai. ~Allegra A