Casa de la Seda 2020; the single-vineyard wines CV 05 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cañada La Torre Malvasía; and the Murviedro Colección Petit Verdot and Sericis Cepas Viejas Monastrell have triumphed in the oldest and most prestigious international wine competition in France, all of them obtaining Gold Medals
Requena, (Valencia), 25 April 2022.- Murviedro wines triumph once again at the Challenge International du Vin, where they convinced a strict and knowledgeable jury to award them Gold Medals.
Casa de la Seda 2020 is Murviedro’s flagship wine. This red wine comes from the El Ardal estate and is made with Bobal grapes from a vineyard planted in 1923 that Murviedro acquired to rescue it, just when it was about to be pulled up because of its meagre production. It is a true piece of wine-making heritage now looked after in the traditional way using organic vinegrowing methods.
Special care also goes into making the wine. This takes place in the Murviedro Historic Winery in the old town of La Villa de Requena, where rich natural silk thread was also produced and woven. It is this fabric that inspires the wine’s label. There, the wine rests during its aging in almost equal parts in a French oak foudre, earthenware jars with a capacity of 37 arrobas (nearly 600 litres) and an egg-shaped concrete tank.
La Casa de la Seda has been very well received by discerning consumers for its varietal aroma of black fruits and wild berries, with hints of aromatic plants, violets and spices such as saffron. On the palate it is smooth and medium-bodied, with silky tannins and a hint of sweetness. The ripe fruit is balanced with its excellent acidity and a fresh, mineral sensation.
The 2020 CV 05, made with Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cañada La Torre 2020, made with Malvasia, are two “Vinos de Parcela” (single-vineyard wines) resulting from painstaking research work undertaken over the last few years to identify plots different from all the others nearby.
CV05 is the name of the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard plot that grows the grapes used to make this refined red wine with a Bordeaux heart and a Mediterranean soul. The grapes come from a plot in the south-west of the Valencian region. It is a small vineyard of only 4 hectares on chalky soil very poor in organic matter but with great potential for vinegrowing. The low pH of this wine and its excellent natural acidity are in balance with the ideal ripening point of the grapes.
Cañada La Torre 2020 is a white wine made with grapes of the legendary Malvasia variety from a single plot of only two hectares planted in 1995 among almond groves and oak woodland at the remarkable altitude of 1,090 metres in the inland Valencian highlands. The result is a very distinctive, complex wine, with aromas reminiscent of a variety of ripe fruits and hints of nuts and flowers. It is flavourful, unctuous and fresh, with a long finish.
Murviedro Colección Petit Verdot 2021 owes its success to a grape variety that has left its land of origin, Bordeaux, to seek better conditions in a warmer latitude. Most years, its long cycle prevents it from ripening properly in France, where it only fully succeeds during really dry harvests.
Petit Verdot has adapted perfectly to our vineyards. The hours of sunshine we enjoy and the mildness of the Mediterranean climate make this minority grape variety very suitable for facing up to climate change. The Murviedro Colección Petit Verdot stands out for its high-intensity aroma, reminiscent of red fruits. It is balsamic, with a menthol finish. On the palate it has an elegant, full-bodied mouthfeel and fresh acidity.
Sericis Cepas Viejas Monastrell 2017 is made with grapes from vines grown in limestone soil. It is a red wine with aromas that define the characteristics of its grape variety and flavours dominated by softness, with a balance of evocative freshness and Mediterranean soul that has charmed consumers and specialist critics alike. In the glass, it is a dense, red wine with notes of purple. Its aroma is highly intense, featuring black fruit compote on a very elegant background of toasted oak and touches of mineral and undergrowth. On the palate it is fleshy and complex, with an unctuous, velvety, sweet, mouthfeel showing ripe, pleasant tannins balanced with surprisingly good acidity, giving it freshness. It has a toasty finish.
The Challenge International du Vin, a competition that discovers interesting new wines and boosts great ones
This competition, organised in France, where it was a pioneer for international wine contests, is considered one of the most prestigious in the world. The producers and tasters who take part value its strict, expert approach.
The Challenge International du Vin is organised in the form of a blind tasting and is open to all wines and wine-based spirits in the world. The latest edition, held on April 8 and 9 at the Palais des Congrès in Bordeaux, brought together 530 tasters to analyse 3,179 samples. True to its aim of uncovering talent, the competition, which takes an open approach, awarded 970 medals, of which 667 were gold and 303 silver, distributed among the 26 producer countries participating.
One of the particular features of this iconic competition is that each tasting jury is composed of four people: a technician, a producer, a distributor and an expert consumer. That means the award-winning wines are both an expression of customer taste and an important purchasing reference for the end consumer.