Wine Down Thursday: Spanish Reds, Uncharted
August 27 from 6 to 7:30pm
Sampler: $20/person

As summer begins to soften at the edges, join us for a journey through Spain’s less-traveled red-wine landscapes: three bottles chosen for their energy, individuality, and unmistakable sense of place. We’ll begin in Aragón, where Garnacha and Tempranillo bring sun-soaked fruit, savory spice, and generous Mediterranean depth without heaviness.

For the final two wines, we’ll travel east to Catalonia and the vineyards of Alt Penedès, a corner better known for sparkling wine but home to quietly radical, characterful reds. We’ll taste a blend of equal parts Sumoll, Xarel·lo, and Garnatxa Blanca, offering uncommon freshness, texture, and personality, before ending with a pure expression of Sumoll, vivid, aromatic, and lifted by bright acidity.

Featured Wines;
2024 Juanvi Viticultor Rubielos de Mora
From the high, rugged interior of Aragón, this crushable red is sourced from organically farmed La Ermita de Los Mártires and La Loma vineyards near Rubielos de Mora in Teruel. At roughly 3,300 feet above sea level, the mountain setting brings hot days, cold nights, and a long growing season. Garnacha and Tempranillo deliver ripe yet remarkably agile fruit: crunchy cherry and raspberry, a savory brush of mountain herbs, and bracing freshness. Short maceration and five months in concrete preserve its immediacy. Juicy and light on its feet, it offers Mediterranean warmth without weight

2023 Finca Parera FAK. Fins Als Kullons
From Sant Llorenç d’Hortons in the Alt Penedès Montserratí, FAK. Fins Als Kullons is a traditional Catalan claret that blurs the usual borders between red and white wine. It combines equal parts Xarel·lo, Sumoll, and Garnatxa Blanca from young vines in the Les Prunes, L’Hort, and La Vinya del Pepe parcels, planted at roughly 771 feet. The two white varieties begin a cool, skin-contact fermentation in cement; Sumoll arrives later to co-ferment with their fermenting juice. The result is singular and irresistibly drinkable: bright red-fruit energy, citrusy tension, and savory herbal lift, with a light, fluid texture that keeps the glass moving.

2023 Celler Pardas Sus Scrofa
At Celler Pardas, Ramón Parera and Jordi Arnan make wine from the mixed agricultural landscape surrounding Can Comas in Alt Penedès, where vineyards sit alongside forest and cereal crops. Their Sus Scrofa is a focused expression of Sumoll, a local variety long uprooted in favor of easier-growing, higher-yielding grapes. Certified-organic, dry-farmed fruit from clay-and-chalk soils is hand-harvested, fermented with native yeasts, and aged for three months in concrete without fining, clarification, or cold stabilization. The result is a delicate, direct red: wild red fruit and lavender layered with dried Mediterranean herbs and wet-chalk minerality. It captures Pardas’ deep commitment to Sumoll and to wines that let this demanding, historic grape speak clearly.