Mar I Terra - Spanish Restaurant and Bar

Mar I Terra - Spanish Restaurant, London

You will note that all the wines below are fully annotated. I hope that this helps you in making an informed and enjoyable choice, and perhaps tempts you into trying something unfamiliar - very often, you will encounter better value and quality by not focusing overmuch on the 'classic' areas or varietals - by trying something different, I hope you have a more rewarding experience.

Please also note that we strive to avoid vintage changes, but wine merchants-and I am on close, friendly terms with all of our suppliers-will frequently change vintages without consultation or even notice: annoying, maddening even, but a fact of life for the average restaurateur. I merely comment that, fortunately, vintage variations are far less marked than in the past (not a cop-out but plain fact-better wine-making, better hygiene, better transport and storage all help) and that when a substitution is sneaked past us, I will always taste to ensure some stylistic consistency with my tasting notes: if there is a marked difference, I will either have reprinted the list by the time the change gets to you, or, when dramatic, simply de-list the wine in question. However, it is always worth remembering that only the tiniest fraction of the wine produced in the world is designed for the long haul: so far as pretty much all of our whites, and many of our reds are concerned younger is better-the exceptions are, sorry to say, the more expensive reds, the dearer of the white Priorats, etc. Lee Hulbert, OCT. '07

N.B. All wines by the glass are 175ml; sparkling wines, dessert wines and sherries 125ml.

Wines by the glass (see the main list for a fuller description)
Whites
1. House white	£3.00
6. Viña Salamanca – soft, peachy, full yet gentle and dry	£3.90
7. Irius Absum 2004 – minerally yet exotic, different, brilliant!	£5.25
8. Ermita Blaco Rioja 2006 – firm, minerally, clean	£4.00
9. Crego e Monaguillo 2006 - fresh,gentle,tropical fruits	£4.50
10. Finca La Colina Verdjo 2006 – full, New World Sauvignon style	£4.95
60. Vall Major, 2006 – subtle, crisp, sherbetty, hint of mint	£3.50
Red
2. House red	£3.00
20. Valderroa Mencia 2005 – vibrant, lively, red-cherry fruit	£4.30
25. Baldoma Tinto 2005 – soft-but-rustic Cab./Merlot/Temp./Bobal blend	£3.95
26. Isis 2004 – strapping, great value Priorat look-alike	£5.50
27. Glorioso 2003 – ripe, traditional, gentle Rioja	£4.90
28. Tinto Artesano 2004 – fresh, bright, Morello cherries, invigorating	£4.00
29. Marques De Aragon 2005 – soft, fruit-driven	£3.50
Rosé
19. Orvalaiz Rosado 2006 – clean, raspberry-scented, gulpable!	£3.10

Vinos
Vinos de la casa – House wines
1. Villa Anita Viura/Chardonnay, 2006 From Tarragona, pale yellow-green, zippy green-apple nose, crisp, clean with delicate pear-drop fruit, ends with a touch of pineapple – really quaffable.	£12.00/£3.00 glass
2. Casa Gualda Cosecha 2006 90% Cencibel-Tempranillo-from La Mancha, with some Cabernet and Merlot, bundles of dense strawberry fruit, easy but has great smoky weight and structure	£12.00 / £3.00 glass
Vinos Espumosos
3. Arges Cava Brut, n/v Produced in Utiel according to the "traditiona"l method (nearly all Cava comes from much further north, in Catalunya) this is elegant, delicate fizz, with citrus and brioche notes and a really delightful, soft mouthed feel, so different to the swingeing acidity of most Cava: the cynic in me suggests that this is because these guys have decently ripned, high-quality fruit to start with. Brilliant as an apertif and all-round good time wine	£22.00
4. Dom Ruinart Brut n/v This is well balanced, has a delicate mousse and lots of fruit, not rich but elegant and complex champagne that is ideal as an aperitif, but has enough weight to acccompany seafood.	£41.00
5. Dom Ruinart Rosé n/v Very fine rosé champagne, bursting with black cherry and raspberry fruit, full bodied with a nose of freshly baked brioche and a juicy, mellifluous mouthfeel.	£49.00
Vinos Blancos
6. Vina Salamanca 2006 Soft, peachily rounded yet dry white from Castilla with a really characterful, old – fashioned quality, not unlike a good Frascati – when you just want an unpretentious wine that tastes of, er, wine…..	£14.50 / £3.90 glass
7. Irius Absum Gewürztraminer/Chardonnay/Pinot Noir 2005 Delightfully quirky blend from Somontano, the three varietals cold-fermented separately then assembled for just three months in new French oak, this a pale straw coloured number with a minerally nose that recalls Friuli, but with an arresting floral/lychee note from the Gewürz., a certain voluptuousness from the Chardonnay and some red-fruit backbone from the Pinot. One of my beloved “different but very good SO TRY IT!” squad.	£21.15 / £5.25 glass
8. Rioja Blanco, Ermita De San Felice, 2006 firm, minerally white Rioja, predominantly Viura, slaty, dry and v. quaffable	£16.00 / £4.00 glass
9. Crego e Monaguillo, 2006 From Monterrei in Galicia, a fresh, gentle young white with an intriguingly fruit-stone character on the nose, but a beautifully balanced soft yet refreshing acidity and discreet tropical fruit – guava, papaya – on the finish.	£17.65 /£4.50 glass
10. Finca La Colina “100 X 100” Verdejo, Rueda, 2006 Wildly pungent, bracing Verdejo from Rueda in central – northwest Spain. A riot of fragrant greengage fruit with a beautifully full mouth-feel yet restrained lime-zesty acidity – brilliant, clean, modern Spanish dry white wine, with pointed similarity to a high-class Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc	£19.50 / £4.95 glass
11. Albarino, San Campio, Terras Gaudas, 2006 Made from the rare Albarino grape, possibly related to Riesling, but effectively native to Galicia, this is a terrific example, fragrant, exotically perfumed with generous peach, apricot and spice scents and a soft easy mouth-feel. A favourite of ours for drinking without, or with subtle fish and seafood plates.	£26.25
12. Nerola Blanco, Catalunya, 2005 Old vine Garnacha Blanca and Xarel-lo, this is redolent of nothing so much as a top class Northern Italian white: dry, but rounded and almost indefinably vinous. It displays great equilibrium, a thrilling balance of voluptuousness and great freshness, gently spicy on the nose and with a whole bowl full of citrus and orchard fruits on the palate, followed by the merest note of fennel on the finish. Modern wine-making can produce too many bland, anodyne, cookie-cutter whites-or it can transform hitherto pedestrian grapes and production areas beyond all recognition: this is firmly in the latter camp	£21.00
13 Rioja Blanco, Finca Allende, 2004 Highly impressive white Rioja,, 60% Viura and 40% Malvasia (with the latter adding a wonderful silken softness and a jasmine – and – honey aroma) aged for just three months in second year French oak, exceptional, polished, elegant wine making	£37.00
14. Torres Fransola Sauvignon Blanc, 2005/6 Fascinating, big-framed, complex Sauvignon, barrel fermented but with the oak so carefully integrated that it serves only to add a suggestion of roundness with no clumsy heft-firm, ripe, herbal-spicy (mint, green peppercorns and grapefruit zest) with a silky, almost creamy overlay and the most mouthwatering white peach finish: better than many a Cru Classé Bordeaux Blanc Sec at several times the price.	£29.50
15. Guitian, Godello de Valdeorras, 2005/6 Another Gallego wine, this time from further south in Valdeorras, and produced from the even more obscure Godello grape. This is a real cult wine in Spain, and we count ourselves extremely fortunate to be given an annual allocation of 15 cases! Palest yellow, the nose explodes with an almost effervescent zippiness leading to the mouth-watering palate of brown sugar sprinkled pink grapefruit. I promise I’m not trying to parody Jilly Goolden, this is just the most gulpable, refreshing white around. Don’t worry about what to drink it with, just drink …	£24.50
16. Celler Cal Pla Blanc, Priorat 2004 Garnacha, Macabeu, Moscatel, vivid yellow – gold, a big, complex white that has had a lot of skin contact resulting in enhanced complexity and colour, this has a surprisingly delicate Muscat-grape palate, with a nose that opens out into an intriguing amalgam of crushed grapes with an almost resinous, piney overlay, in much the same way that a great Aussie Riesling “puts on the kero” as they say Down Under, (i.e., begins to acquire a hint of petrol or diesel on the nose!)	£22.00
17. OUT OF STOCK
60. Val Major, Celler Batea, 2006 95% Garnacha Blanca, 5% Muscat, clean as a whistle on the nose with a fresh, floral (honeysuckle) scent from the Muscat, good medium-weight mouthfeel, interesting spearminty note on the finish, combined with fresh, sherbetty acidity. Good choice with seafood, or, indeed, nothing at all!	£13.65 / £3.50 glass
61 - Mas D’En Compte, Celers Joan Sangenis Juncosa, Priorat, 2003 40% Garnacha Blanca with lesser quantities of Picapoll and Xarel –lo, a very Burgundian nose of melon, ripe Comice pears and honey with a discreet overlay of new oak from that proportion of the wine which is fermented in (and also spends five months sur lie in) new oak (and would everybody whose knee-jerk reaction is “I don’t like oak, sir” go and stand in the corner: what you don’t like is the confected, artificial taste of cheap New World Chardonnay). This is a big, butch, mouthfilling white, not dissimilar to a high-class Châteauneuf Blanc, and is ideal for those who believe that white wine is girly – I won’t make a food suggestion because this, with its alcohol and weight (if I mention residual sugar, you’ll think it’s sweet, but it isn’t) defies you to overpower it. Serve this for (or better still, with) Karl Rove and Donald Rumsfeld.	£32.60
Vinos Rosados
18. Viña Carmina, Bobal Rosado, 2006 100% old-vine Bobal from Utiel, really vivid cerise, truly enticing toffee or butterscotch nose but wonderfully full, spicy and bone dry on the palate. A rare, truly flavoursome rosé, voluptuous and mouth-fillingly brilliant!	£14.75
19. Orvalaiz Cabernet Sauvignon Rosado, 2006 Clean, raspberry-scented rose, well balanced, light, full of fruit but dry and so easy to quaff!	£12.50 / £3.15 glass
Vinos Tintos
20. Valderroa Mencía, 2005 Vibrant 100% Mencía from Valdeorras, really elegant, well-poised wine, aromas of griotte cherries and fraises des bois, same bright, focused, graceful fruit characters on the palate, unusual for Spain in that its defining qualities are refinement and harmony: this doesn’t attempt to batter your palate into submission, but seduces with its polish and style. An outstanding all-round food wine, will flatter (rather than batter) most of our menu.	£16.95 / £4.30 glass
21. Beronia, Rioja Cosecha, 2005 Again, 100% Tempranillo, rigorous, modern wine- making – extensive battonage, long lees contact, but no pasteurisation or filtration, producing a very polished wine with the lustre of new oak without its often intrusive organoleptic contribution. Beautiful aromas of warm brioche or croissant and loads of lovely ripe berry fruit flavours.	£19.00
22. Cal Pla Crianza, Priorat, 2004 Garnacha and Cariñena, a year in new French and American oak, old – school Spanish nose – incense-y, almost Mass-sultry ( Catholics of a Firbankian bent will know what I mean!) with whiffs of nutmeg, cinnamon and the typical Grenache white pepper note, some of the same elements on palate but with soft, restrained, spicy dark, damson-and-blackcurrant fruit and a long, leathery finish.	£22.00
23. Casa Castillo, Monastrell De Jumilla, 2006 Our second wine from this tremendous estate, this is 100% Monastrell (or Mourvedre) and, without trumpeting too loudly, a Rhone of this quality at this price would be unthinkable. Like all liquids Rhonish, this will be fabulous with substantial food, its powerful hints of tar, mountain ham and prunes laid over a warm, blackstrap molasses carcass. Lovely stuff, amazing value.	£19.95
24. Allende Tinto, Rioja, 2002 The humble appellation belies the quality of this exceptional wine from perhaps the most impressive producer currently working in Rioja. 100% Tempranillo , aged in predominantly French oak (unusual in Rioja) for thirteen months, this has firm but silky tannins balanced by great depth of cigar-box spiciness and eucalyptus, a twist of liquorice, tremendously persistent dark, plangent fruit, elegance and length. A great personal favourite, drink with grilled or roasted meats, game, pierna de cordero, cochinillo, etc.	£37.50
25. Baldoma Selecció, Bodegas Vall De Baldomar,Costers Del Segre, 2005 pungently fruity young red, but very soft and juicy with well-tuned balancing acidity and gentle tannins, mostly Cabernet and Merlot with some Tempranillo and a tiny amount of the wild, rustic Bobal which serves to provide the same effect as Ornette Coleman suddenly appearing in a chamber concert – jarring, but good jarring. The Spanish have a near obsession with using maceration carbonique to lighten their generally – hefty reds; this is conventionally fermented, and all the better for it.	£15.70 /£3.95 glass
26. Isis, Montsant, 2004 Since Priorat – admittedly on the back of some pretty wonderful wines – has become this month’s participant in the ‘Mr Parker-thinks-we’re-wonderful-so-let’s-rip-everybody-off’ game this, from the neighbouring appellation of Montsant, is as close as you’ll find to a good-value Priorat. A Syrah/Garnacha/Cabernet/Mazuelo blend, spending 12 months in barrique, this is all oozy prunes, walnuts and smoked bacon on the nose with a long brambly, bitter-chocolate palate: the outstanding quality of the wine makes it so easy to forgive the label	£22.20 / £5.50 glass
27. Glorioso Crianza, Bodegas Palacio, 2003 A medium-weight, somewhat traditional Rioja, ripe but genteely-subdued strawberry and raspberry fruit, a subtle insinuation of wood (American and French oak used for fermentation and maturation) and a rich finish with well-integrated soft tannins and acidity. Delicious all-round food accompanying wine	£19.00 /£4.90 Glass
28. Tinto Artesano, Terra Alta, 2004 Unusual, attractive blend (Garnacha, Cariñena, Cabernet Sauv., Syrah, Tempranillo and Lledoner Pelut!) from Catalunya’s southernmost vineyards, hefty dark fruit, notes of garrigue herbs, liqurice, well-knit tannins –really good value	£16.20 / £4.00 glass
29. Marques de Aragon Garnacha, Calatayud, 2005 Dense, smokey Grenache from this little-known appellation in Aragon, robust cherry jam, cinnamon and nutmeg notes with a soft, round finish – eminently drinkable	£14.00/£3.50 glass
30. Petalos Del Bierzo, Jose Palacios, 2004 Typically intense, extracted Mencia from Bierzo, very deeply coloured, great ripeness combined with considerable elegance-Bierzo has a cool, Atlantic climate, so this wine does not suffer from the “hot” over-blown character of so many 2003s from elsewhere in Spain. Nose is redolent of blackcurrant leaves, garrigue herbs, maybe tobacco, angular, almost pointed in its attack but with a much gentler mouth-feel, smooth and almost silken with the wonderful, lingering burst of bright cherry acidity that bespeaks Mencia on the finish. Highly distinctive wine from one of Spain’s best winemaking concerns, with interests in Priorat and Rioja, as well as Leon.	£27.00
31. Casa Gualda, Seleccion C. and J., 2003 100% old vine Tempranillo from the bodega in La Mancha which produces our house red, this is a big, powerful, fruit-driven wine, soft in the mouth (lots of glycerol, partly as a consequence of its 13% alcohol) but with sufficient well-meshed tannins and a long, balanced finish, a wonderful, full nose redolent of a compote of dark berry fruits and a really interesting hint of liquorice. This full-on winter-weight red is brilliantly made in a zone which specialises in ropy plonk and so is exceptional value.	£19.00
32. Viña Sastre Roble, Ribera Del Duero, 2005 7 months in 2 year old American oak,this is a big, extractive but fruitily approachable wine with smooth, mellow tannins, hefty cacao, spice and cassis fruit and a vigorous, smoky, brambly nose. Great value for the appellation, brilliant with stews, lamb cutlets, strong (not blue) cheeses.	£21.15
33. Absum Tempranillo/Cabernet/Merlot 2004 From Somontano in the north-eastern province of Huesca in the foothills of the Pyrenees, this is a typically modern Spanish blend in an approachable, polisehed style:smooth tannins, blackcurranty nose and an easy, ample-but-structured mouth-feel:really good choice with a wide range of meats and cheeses.	£21.15
34. Seleccion Penon de Ifach, Bodegas Mendoza, 2002 A wonderful – not typically Spanish! – blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot. This is robust, juicy, broodily fruited stuff reminiscent of a cross between a good old-fashioned ‘grocer’s’ Burgundy (the kind that really came from Northern Africa!) and a high-quality South Australian blend. A more individual character than most more anodyne, modern blends, this has lots of hefty cassis and black cherry fruit, some spiciness from the Merlot and a bitter/sour note just detectable enough to lift it out of the norm. Interesting and very good.	£26.50
35. Digma, Castillo de Sajazarra, Rioja, 2003 The top wine from this outstanding bodega, an assemblage from the vineyards of Fuentenegra and Galdara, the quintessence of Tempranillo, gentle overlay of new oak, powerful scents of coffee, chocolate and cinnamon, toasty fruit and a mineral/earthy note on the palate, plush tannins and a sleek, persistent mouth-feel ending with an uplifting suggestion of black cherry. The best new Rioja I have tasted for several years.	£56.00
36 Pie Franco, Casa Castillo, 2003 100% Monastrell from ungrafted vines planted in 1941, consequently producing pitifully small yields of explosively powerful fruit. Given the huge impact of New World wines in the U.K. over the last twenty or so years, our collective palate seems to crave ever-more potent wines, reds in particular: the trick is finding those modern blockbusters which have some complexity and finesse to justify the lorry loads of fruit and tannin that are the corollary of lots of sunshine and highly extractive winemaking. This is possessed of a whole panoply of spicy notes – black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, even a little leather – that complement and interest to the frankly lush, heady, dark fruit.	£35.00
37 Malbec 2-3-4, Casa Don Angel, “Multivintage”, Vera De Estenas Fascinating out-of-left-field red from Utiel, in the mountains west of Valencia, an assemblage of three different vintages of Malbec (2002, 2003 and 2004) each of which has spent a different amount of time in new American and (2 different kinds,yet!) of Alliers oak. Confused? No matter, because in what might seem like a frantic attempt to find equilibrium by blending, the wine makers have achieved a deliciously harmonious, forward Malbec, very different to the sometimes harsh examples typical of Argentina. Bundles of dark, damsony fruit, good firm tannins, restrained balancing acidity and notes of coffee, liqourice and blueberries, even! I adore wines with idiosyncrasy, individuality, and this has those qualities in spades. Would excel with lamb, beef estofado and fabada, but just try it for its sheer character	£27.60
38. Castillo De Sajazarra, Rioja Reserva, 2003 High-altitude grown Tempranillo from the property’s own best vineyards, 24 months in a mixture of French and American oak, really concentrated cedar-and-spice nose with lots of wild strawberry and blackberry fruit with a high-toned violet overlay. Excellent amalgam of old school Rioja nervosity with a more fulsome amount of fruit (and less reeky old oak) than you’d have found ten years ago.	£35.00
39. Mas Perinet, Priorat, 2004 Modern, fruit-driven Priorat, Garnacha/Cariñena/Syrah/Cabernet/Merlot blend, 15 months in new oak, velvet-textured, its 15% of alcohol really well integrated and worn very lightly, huge amount of hefty, damson-y fruit with just a counterpoint of acidity and soft tannin-really accessible now, but with the structure to both age and to accompany really full-flavoured dishes. Polishedd, intense, elegant and classy (the last a somewhat ambiguous adjective…but this wine is.)	£45.50
“RESERVE” LIST
32. Briego Joven Roble, Ribera Del Duero, 2004 7 months in oak,this is an extractive but fruity wine with smooth, mellow tannins, hefty strawberry and cassis fruit and a vigorous, smoky, brambly nose. Good value for the appellation, great with stews, lamb cutlets, strong (not blue) cheeses.
35. Tresantos Roble 2003 Little brother to no. 20 above, but younger Tempranillo vines, less time spent in second-use oak, same rigorous avoidance of clarification and filtration in order to maximise the essential quality of the fruit whilst minimising the winemaker’s interference: full-bodied and somewhat heftier than the V. Seleccionada, but still with lots of ripe, berry-fruit character	£14.25
17. Ameztoi, Getariako Txakolina, 2006 Included partly because I’d like to hear you pronounce it! Really Chacoli (cha-ko-lee for the remedial class) is the Basque country’s quintessential accompaniment to tapas. Bracing, almost shocking green – apple sour – sweetness, palate cleansing acidity of the most invigorating kind and a hint of spritzy bubbles (entirely intentional) this and our Manzanilla would be my desert island choices to have with tapas on a summer’s day – or to recreate that feeling on a grey December evening.	£19.90
Dessert Wines
212. Moscatel De La Marina, Bodegas Mendoza, 2005 Almost delicate for a wine with 15o of alcohol, this has the essence of Muscat grapes crushed into a glass. Lightly perfumed, gently sweet and with a pure clean finish.	£19.35 /£3.65 glass
213. Equinox Batea Garnatxa Negre, Vi Dolc, 2006 - extroadinary sweet red Grenache, lightly fortified, explosive nose of blueberries and brioche, mouth filling fullness with the most brilliant note of red-grape tannin to resolve the whole package	£23.95 ½ litre / £6.00 glass
215. Capataz Andres, Oloroso / PX Lustau - mature, tawny colour, nose of burnt caramel, raisins, figs, fully developed honey / salty sweetness, great balancing acidity-truly outstanding with cheese, especially blue	£4.40 glass

An optional service charge of 10% will be appended to your bill
All prices are inclusive of VAT at 17.5%

Mar I Terra
Blackfriars
14 Gambia Street
Waterloo
London
SE1 0XH
Tel: 020 7928 7628
Fax: 020 7928 7626
E-mail: info@mariterra.co.uk

'Za London
Blackheath
17 Royal Parade
Blackheath Village
London
SE3 OTL
Tel: 020 8318 5333
E-mail: info@zalondon.net
Web: www.zalondon.net

Mar I Terra
Soho
17 Air Street
Soho
London
W1B 5AF
Tel: 020 7734 1992
E-mail: info@mariterra.co.uk