La Plazuela is for many of us who have grown up in a town or a small city the physical place where we used to play many afternoons. But for Margarita Madrigal, Alexandra Schmedes and Gonzalo Rodríguez, that name means something more. This is how these three oenologists responsible for the ‘More than Wines’ wine project called their well-known wine, which in turn comes from the family winery of the last of them located in Dosbarrios (Toledo), dating from 1851 and with its emblematic jars, where they still breed their emblematic broth that bears the same name.
Now, after almost two decades since these three passionate about good wine joined forces in ‘Más que Vinos’, the tenth vintage of ‘La Plazuela’, 2018, has just seen the light of day, celebrating its release on the market with 96 Parker points.
Made with 80% Cencibel (Tempranillo) and 20% Garnacha Tintorera grapes from vineyards between 60 and 80 years old that undergo natural fermentation in small stainless steel tanks. The wine then undergoes malolactic fermentation in cones and vats, followed by aging for 15 months in new 300-litre barrels (80% French oak, 20% American oak) and then one year in amphorae, the old-fashioned way.
“Putting a new vintage of ‘La Plazuela’ on the market is always a special and exciting moment for us, as this wine only comes from truly excellent vintages and is a true reflection of our good vines. The great quality of the grapes, together with our dedication and patience, complete it”, the people in charge of the Toledo winery say excitedly.
‘La Plazuela’ is a continental wine that can be seen in the concentration of color and in the warm, ripe tannins. Intensely dark red in color, it has aromas of ripe fruit accompanied by elegant toasted notes, while on the palate it is full-bodied. It is a red that shows the potential of the old Cencibel (Tempranillo) from Castilla-La Mancha. Structured, elegant, serious, with a lot of black fruit at its point of maturity, long and seductive.
As its name indicates, ‘More than wines’ is not only wines, but also. The passion for this world is what brought him together in 1998 with three friends in La Rioja, a wine region par excellence. There they met Margarita, Alexandra and Gonzalo, three oenologists, each with extensive experience. However, they took root far from Rioja lands and began in 2007 with their project located between Dosbarrios and Cabañas de Yepes, in the well-known region of Mesa de Ocaña, not far from Toledo capital.
Their project, seeking the wine tradition of this area, made them create their project there, based on the philosophy of cultivating native varieties: Cencibel, Garnacha, Malvar and Airén. They currently have 35 hectares of old vines over 80 years old, goblet and organically grown, located very close to the winery, at the Finca El Horcajo, scattered around the villages of that Toledan region, an area elevated to 800 meters of altitude characterized by the extreme continental climate and a clayey-calcareous soil.
This is where the famous native Cencibel, Garnacha, Malvar and Airén grapes come from, which are used to make the well-known wines with which ‘More than wines’ has carved out a niche for themselves in the market and they even have a range dedicated to their countrymen, the brothers Almodovar.
