| 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 most of our whites, and many of our reds are concerned younger is better-the exceptions are, sorry to say, the more expensive reds, the white Riojas, the Torres Sauvignon, etc.
Lee Hulbert, Oct. ‘09
N.B. All wines by the glass are 175ml; sparkling wines, dessert wines and sherries 125ml.
SEE OUR DESSERT MENU FOR OUR FEATURED DESSERT WINES
Wines by the glass (see the main list for a fuller description) |
| Whites |
|
| 1. House white |
£3.35 |
| 6. Blanco Flor 2009 - soft, full yet gentle and dry, hint of aniseed |
£4.40 |
| 8. Bauza, Rioja Blanco 2009 - clean, elegant, dry |
£4.50 |
| 9. Crego e Monaguillo 2008 - fresh, gentle, tropical fruits |
£4.65 |
| 10. Camino La Fara Verdejo 2009 - full, New World Sauvignon style |
£4.95 |
| 60.
Mescahe Blanco 2007 - rose-spicy, lime-y freshness |
£5.00 |
| Red |
|
| 2. House red |
£3.35 |
| 20. Rioja Cosecha, Ribaguda 2007 - vanilla, strawberries, gentle oak |
£4.90 |
| 25. (This bin, #25, no longer by the glass) |
£0.00 |
| 27. Vegantigua, Ribera del Duero, 2007 - plush, rich, elegant |
£5.95 |
| 28. Gandesa 2006 - smoky dark fruit, herbs, liquorice |
£4.25 |
| 29. Peregrino Prieto Picudo 2008 - lighter, fruit-driven, easy drinking |
£5.20 |
| Rosé |
|
| 19. Orvalaiz
Rosado 2008 - clean, raspberry-scented, gulpable! |
£4.00 |
| Vinos
|
| Vinos de la casa – House wines |
1. WHITE - Vina Lixia, Bodegas Gallegas, n/v
Lovely fresh, juicy, pear-like fruit in this Galician blend - fragrant, quaffable and great value. |
£12.95/£3.35 glass |
| 2. RED - Vina Lixia, Bodegas Gallegas, n/v
Soft-but-structured gluggale red from Galicia, the epitome of easy drinking but without the bland flabbiness that usually means - proper, full-bodied red wine.
|
£12.95/£3.35 glass |
| Vinos Espumosos |
3. Vera De Estenas, Cava Brut Nature, n/v
Produced in Utiel according to the “traditional” method (nearly all Cava comes from much further north, in Catalunya) this is an elegant, delicate fizz, with citrus and brioche notes and a really delightful, soft mouth-feel, so different to the swingeing acidity of most Cava: the cynic in me suggests that this is because these guys have decently ripened, high-quality fruit to start with. Brilliant as an aperitif and all-round good time wine!
|
£26.00 |
| 4. Raventos I Blanc, L'Hereu Reserva 2007
Biodynamically grown on the Raventos estate, this is an impressively rich and complex Cava, with lime and orange scents overlaying its essential mineral-and-almond character. Almost Burgundian in its opulent fullness, this is a cava that positively needs food - prawns, crab, lobster - to show at its best - which is damned good!
|
£31.00 |
| 5. Carles Andreu Rosado Reserva n/v
Fascinating, and I'm sure you'd rather drink a completely brilliant pink Cava than a mediocre pink chamapagne! Fermented in new French oak, 5 months on its lees and a minimum of 20 months bottled in the cellar, this is one of a raft of brilliant, artisanal Cavas that have converted me (a lifelong cava-hater) utterly over the last couple of months. A certain roundness and structure from the oak, a tremendously forceful morello cherry/herbal character on the nose, pure, voluptuous red fruits in the mouth and a final resolving touch of vanilla or brioche. Don't think of it as dear cava: think of it as an extraordinary fizz that would be twice as much if it came from Champagne.
|
£32.00 |
| Vinos Blancos |
| 6. Vera De Estenas, Blanco Flor, 2008/9
Soft, peachily rounded yet dry white from Utiel, 90% Macabeo with a really characterful quality, fresh and lively with just a hint of aniseed on the finish, perfect when you want a low-acid but well-fruited dry white that just tastes of, err, wine…
|
£16.75/£4.40 glass |
| 7. Hacienda Del Carche Blanco, Jumilla 2008
A Sauvignon-Airen-Macabeo blend from the semi-desert region of Jumilla in Spain's far south east, a shining example of what high tech modern wine making can do where it should actually be far too hot and dry to make decent white! Some obvious Sauvignon aromatics - gooseberries and citrus rather than cats' pee - with a luscious, fruit-driven palate (think passion fruit with its edge of acidity) and a clean, elegant finish.
|
£19.95 |
| 8. Rioja Blanco, Bodegas Bauza 2009
Clean as a whistle on the nose with a fresh, almost floral scent, bone dry and gently apple-y on the palate, interesting almost mentol note on the finish combined with fresh, lively, cleansing acidity. Good choice with seafood or, indeed, with nothing at all! |
£17.50/£4.50 glass |
| 9. Crego e Monaguillo, 2008
From Monterrei in Galicia, a fresh, gentle young white with an intriguing fruit-stone character on the nose, but a beautifully balanced soft yet refreshing acidity and discreet tropical fruit – guava, papaya – on the finish. |
£18.95 /£4.65 glass |
10. Camino La Fara, Rueda, 2009
Wildly pungent, bracing Verdejo from Leon 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 a pointed similarity to a high-class Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc |
£19.50/£4.95 glass |
11. Albarino, San Campio, Terras Gaudas, 2009
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. |
£29.00 |
12. Nerola Blanco, Catalunya, 2008
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 |
£22.00 |
13. Prado Rey Verdejo, 2008
Highly impressive Castilian Verdejo, a wonderful silkn softness and a jasmine and lime, aroma, just, exceptional, polished, elegant wine making |
£19.95 |
14. Torres Fransola Sauvignon Blanc, 2007/8
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. |
£32.75 |
15. Guitian, Godello de Valdeorras, 2007
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 … |
£28.25 |
16. Ermita de Nieve, Sauvignon Blanc, Rueda, 2009
Incredibly fresh, zesty, apricot-and-passionfruit driven expression of this varietal, does not suffer from the clumsiness evident in all too much (recently planted) Spanish Sauvignon, just a perfect, graceful amalgam of New Zealand's oomph and depth and the green zestiness of the Loire Valley: certainly, the best Spanish Sauvignon I've tasted. |
£23.00 |
17. Ameztoi, Getariako Txakolina, 2008
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 |
60. Mesache, Bodega Pirineos,
2008
Fascinating blend of late-harvest Macabeo, Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer from Somontano, just south of the Pyrenees. Intense buttercup yellow, penetrating notes of spice and mango, a dash of limey freshness and a heady, delightful rose scent at the finish. Really lively, indeed invigorating apertif, but certainly enough sustance to be great with seafood, arroz a banda, chicken and vegetarian dishes. |
£19.95
/ £5.00 glass |
61 - Naia, Bodegas Naia, Verdejo De Rueda, 2008
The great asset of Rueda Verdejo is its assertive, intensely aromatic, “in your face” character: its disadvantage is that this is frequently overdone, resulting in a pastiche of a green, acidic, cat’s pee Loire Valley Sauvignon. Here, the combination of battonage (stirring the resting wine on its yeasty lees) and the judicious addition of a few new oak staves to the stainless steel fermenting tanks result in a big, mouthfilling white which is a beautiful amalgam of fresh, May-blossomy aromatics, vanilla, almonds and a touch guava on the palate and a ripe, super-smooth mouth feel. Lovely stuff which carries its weight with grace and balance. |
£27.30 |
| Vinos
Tintos |
20. Rioja Tinto Lopez De Haro, Bodegas Clasica, 2008
I’ve always liked the expression “does what it says on the tin”: a bit bluff, a bit blokey, but you know where you stand. This archetypal young Rioja is all gentle strawberry and vanilla fruit, just enough oak, soft enveloping tannins, a little lively rosehip note on the finish and so, being totally typical of what it’s meant to be…does what it says on the tin. |
£19.00/£4.90 glass |
21.Finca Resalso, Emilio Moro, 2008
100% Tinta Del Pais (local clone of Tempranillo), only 4 months in French oak, the emphasis here, unlike many young Ribera Del Duero reds, is on the vivacious fruit. Beautiful deep garnet colour, ripe cherries and a little violet on the nose, quite a lot of toasty vanillin from the oak and prominent, but well-integrated tannins, finishing powerfully but smoothly. Great value for the area, and given that Emilio Moro's more exulted cuvees are some of Spain's best - and most expensive.
|
£23.00 |
| 22. OUT OF STOCK |
|
23. Tavs, Hacienda Del Carche, Tinto De Jumilla, 2007
Our second wine from this tremendous estate, this is 80% Monastrell (or Mourvedre) and 20% Syrah 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. |
£23.00 |
24. Allende Tinto, Rioja, 2004
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.
|
£39.95 |
25. Arribes De Vettonia, Juan Garcia Crianza 2006
From a new D.O. area close to the Portuguese border, this is 100% Juan Garcia, a local varietal which seems to brilliantly combine the freshness of the (more ubiquitous, also grown close by) Mencia grape with the ripe, dark fruit and savoury minerality of the wines of the Ribera Del Dureo, also nearby. Very unusual, very appealing in its juxstaposition of heft and freshness - reminds me a bit of an old-school Julienas or Moulin-a-Vent - serious, rather than throwaway Gamay. Lovely, probably my current favourite red on the list. |
£22.00 |
26. Bajondillo, Dani Jimenez Landi, Mentrida, 2009
Warning: stap in, do not drive, do not operate heavy machinery! Seriously, I can't figure out why the other tasting notes I've read make this sound like... normal wine. Bonkers 14.5% "field blend" (i.e. we've forgotten what great grandad planted) allegedly of Cabernet, Merlot, Tempranillo and Syrah, but which also clearly has a fair dollop of white peppery old vine Grenache, or my name's not Alousius Wangschwanger the Third. This reminds me greatly of the wines produced by the "maverick" (alright, barking) Randall Grahm in California back in the day before M. and S. bought his soul. Just the juiciest, ripest, spiciest, most vibrant. MOST FUN YOU'LL FIND IN A GLASS. No pretension, just buy some, drink it and thank me.
|
£23.60 |
27. Vegantigua, Vega De Yuso, Ribera Del Duero, Robel, 2007
Plush, fruit packed young offering from the Ribera del Duero, only 5 months in a mixture of new French and American oak, beautifully pure Tempranillo fruit – wild strawberries, blueberries – with a dark, glowering intensity from the firm, well-balanced tannins (beefed up by 5% Cabernet) on the finish. Outstanding young Ribera that pulls off the difficult trick of balancing ripe, accessible fruit with a structure of tannin and acidity with great verve. |
£25.15/£5.95 glass |
28. Grandesa Tinto Joven, Terra Alta, 2007
80% Tempranillo/20% Garnacha blend from Catalunya’s southernmost vineyards, smoky dark fruit, notes of garrigue herbs, liquorice, well-knit tannins –really good value. |
£16.00/£4.25 glass |
29. Peregrino Prieto Picudo Maceracion Pelicular, Leon, 2008
Gently spicy, juicy and elegant with crunchy red - berry fruit and hints or cocoa, this is made entirely from the oddball Prieto Picudo varietal, indigenous to Leon. Very interesting summer drinking, esp. in an ice bucket for five minutes.
|
£21.00/£5.20 glass |
30. Ontanon, Rioja Crianza, 2007
Made from a blend of 90% Tempranillo and 10% old-vine Garnacha, aged for 12 months in a combination of new French and American oak, a potent blast of dark cherries on the nose, followed by a complex, spicy waft of bay-leaf and cinamon, a full rounded palate replete with a hefty load of cassis and figs, silky-soft tannins and a long powerful finish. Shines for its polish, refinement and sheer class. |
£26.40 |
31. Viña Zorzal Graciano, Navarra, 2007
100% Graciano, elegant, bright, bramble-and-white pepper fruit, truly gourgeous, mouth-filling black cherries (indeed, so well rounded that it’s actually more like black cherry yoghurt) on the palate, satin-smooth tannins softened by four months on its lees in new French oak, just a hint of something darker and more “balsamic” (mint, a little liquorice) on the finish. Suave, well balanced and a graceful, polished counterpoint to the heftier feel which is the stock-in-trade of many Spanish reds. Perhaps the best value red currently on the list. |
£19.99 |
32. Rioja Reserva, Bodegas Bauza, 2005
24 months in American oak,this is a moderatly firm but fruitily approchable wine, the wood very wel integrated with bery gentle tannins, smooth cacao, cedar and strawberry fruit and a seductive smoky/vanilla nose. Good value for the appellation, brilliant with stews, lamb cutlets, strong (not blue) cheeses. |
£29.95 |
33. Evohe Garnacha Vinas Viejas 2008
From Bajo Aragon, in the north-east of Spain, this is 100% from 70-to-80 year old Grenache vines, fermented in 100 year-old concrete vats (so no wood), intense, inky red, really fresh, fragrant raspberries and white pepper on the nose, a little smokiness, on the palate almost overwhelming, punchy, clean red fruit characteristics (raspberries, stawberries, currants), some slaty minerality, gentle, cleansing acidity and just enough tannic grip to add interest. Medium-bodied (which is a nice relief from some of the heft here present!), great with pretty much all tapas or just on its own.
|
£19.50 |
34. Seleccion Penon de Ifach, Bodegas Mendoza, 2003
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. |
£29.35 |
35. Clos Lojen, Juan Antonio Ponce, Manchuela, 2009
Biodynamically produced (not just about hippies prostrating themselves naked before the moon-goddess, but responsible for more of the world's truly great wine than you'd think) in Manchuela (new D.O. in the Cuence/Albacete area), this has the most ludicrous level of piercing, pure, black cherry fruit, overlaid with hints of nutmeg, tobacco, even leather. Carbonic maceration (essentially, letting the grapes collapse under their own weight in a CO2 - rich environment without conventional pressing) usually produces vapid, bubble-gummy crap, especially in Spain, and I normally avoid wines so made like the plague, but this actually has some tannin, a certain streak of acidity adding backbone and great elegance. Think superior, Cru Beaujolais - not bloody Nouveau - with more exuberant fruit, and you're in the right territory. Really outstanding.
|
£25.00 |
36. Marbore, Bodegas Pirineos, 2003
A blend of Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and the local varietals Moristel and Parraleta (“ local” being the area of Somontano in mountainous Huesca, at the foot of the Pyrenees). The nose shows hefty black cherry and coffee fruit with an interesting funky, herbal note which I am told is characteristic of Moristel. Rich vibrant fruit on the palate, again the cherries coming through quite forcefully, finishing with firm, rounded tannins and a satisfying hit of fruity acidity and great persistence.
|
£40.00 |
37. Malbec 7-8, Casa Don Angel, “Multivintage”, Vera De Estenas
Fascinating out-of-left-field red from Utiel, in the mountains west of Valencia, an assemblage of two different vintages of Malbec, the wine makers achieving a deliciously harmonious, forward wine, 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. Polished, intense, elegant and classy (the last a somewhat ambiguous adjective…but this wine is.) |
£45.50 |
- 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 |
Mar I Terra
Soho
17 Air Street
Soho
London
W1B 5AF
Tel: 020 7734 1992
E-mail: info@mariterra.co.uk |
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