Thatcher's Imports Spain Trip: Live Blogging Day 2 - Carlos Sanchez

Day Two, Part I: Carlos Sanchez

After a deep sleep, our second full day of tasting started off with a four and a half hour drive to Rioja, which welcomed us with dramatic architecture in the small towns, gorgeous landscapes under the Pyrenees, and, eventually, a trumpeted arrival to our hotel. Stop one, however was with one Carlos Sanchez.

Allow me a short minute to re-instill the important points here: yes, Carlos makes Rioja. Yet, he was trained in and had fallen in love with the wines of the Sierra de Gredos, making his first wines up a 4 Monos with the Jimenez-Landi boys. As a younger man studying to become a teacher in Madrid, wine came to him as a curiosity, and his exploration of that inquisitive nature led him to where he sits today, in Labastida.

Carlos comes across at first as a reserved man, but his smile is easy and incredibly genuine. His vineyards were tucked away behind the winery, and he has a few more hectares less than 5km away.. Seemingly arm’s reach from the mountain range, he explained just how much chalk had eroded and spread itself through the vineyards, and this quickly became evident in the wines.

Again, Carlos makes Rioja; but this is not a blended, American oak-aged, oxidative style in the least. Our very first wine, the Bienlarme Lagrimas Bellas was a bolt of lightning to whatever system our mind had trained us to expect of Rioja, let alone white Rioja. 100% Viura from 55 year-old vines on the chalky soils, “Lagrimas Bellas”, Carlos explained, is “Happy Tears - a good cry.” It nearly did bring tears, very direct but with texture, and the sapidity we never thought would come from this area.

The Sanchez wines use several terms, phrases and “lieu-dits” on their labels, and the next wine, Buradon Las Plegarias Blanco illustrates this. Buradon lies within San Vicente de la Sonsierra, and “Plegarias” is a joke to pay homage to his vineyard team; “It means to pray - to pray for rain, pray for sun, everything they need. So I needed to pay homage to them!” If maybe a little less direct, this had equal, pulsating energy for a white Rioja, this one with more white fruits and texture.

Following this was Carlos’ 1er Los Montes Bellos del Buradon Blanco, another Viura wine but from Labastida, right near the winery. “1er” for Carlos signifies this as a “step up”, a vineyard he holds in high regard. The plot of 50+ year-old vines is small and is adjacent to the red plot we tasted later. There’s definitely more ripeness here, but the pH of the soils keeps this brilliantly clean and mineral. Wondrously expressive, I wish we could keep drinking his whites!

Bienlarme Lagrimas Bellas Tinto (red) is as close as you’ll find from Carlos to a blended wine; “For me it is the most representative of the style of the village [of Labastida],” Carlos explained, “Thinking of Labastida as a whole, not just one soil expression.” A blend of Garnacha, Tempranillo and some white wines as well (including Viura, as was traditional), this is incredibly lively and precise, but yet dense and dark-fruited at the same time.

The Red Buradon is a fun one, a co-fermented blend (as many of the field blends are here) of Garnacha & Tempranillo, showcasing a bit more grip to go with the chalky tannins. “This has its own personality,” Carlos claimed, and it’s true that the dark fruits complemented by the spark and structure keep you wanting more.

1er Bellos Tinto is 70% Tempranillo and 30% Viura, co-fermented from the same plot as the white wine, home to 60+ year old red vines. This is the most playful wine for me, with gorgeous aromatics that are brought back together with great tension and structure. “The ‘Premier’ for me means another level of soil,” remarked Carlos.

Radales del Buradon, from the same lieu-dit as the other Buradon wines, comes from older vines, mostly Tempranillo (85%) with Garnacha and Viura. “The soil here is more rustic,” Carlos explained and with the 45-day maceration the wine remains vibrant, floral and has ultra-fine tannins that will eventually bring a wine of almost Burgundian texture, if I could forecast. We followed this with a 2024 bottling of the same, which, when probed, Carlos admitted he preferred, as it bore a more reductive, more rustic and traditional side. “For me, there are no makeups in the wine,” he said, and we all agreed that the purity of his wines was of epic proportions.

2023 Bendecida is the tiniest production here, bearing a single cask yielding about 350 bottles. Carlos took the opportunity to remind us that Tempranillo does not need the long, oxidative aging of old, but it does benefit from the micro-oxygenation of the oak barrels (of which he prefers 300, 400 liter sizes and upwards). I nearly had my breath taken away here, as at first I was enjoying the succulent red and dark fruits, with the micro-tannins aplenty but perfectly oriented, and then the acidity hit, carrying this wine to a whole new level of radiance. Wow.

The last taste was of the 2023 Veravier, which is a blend of his two children’s names - Vera & Javier. 50% Tempranillo, 30% Garnacha, with the remainder Viura and the rest of the field blend in Labastida, these are from some of the oldest vines. I was brought back to the orange peel-cranberry essence I used to get from Summa old vine bottlings from my old boss at Littorai, but Carlos paid homage to his kids - on Father’s Day! - with a succulent, energetic wine that rained down violet fruits and flowers with plenty of lift.

Carlos’ character is a fun study for me each meeting; he is so incredibly thoughtful, and takes time to measure his responses to ensure he answers questions accurately and so that one can understand the point clearly. It’s so clear how passionate he is, but also how kind and studious. I had to remind us and others that he was not from a winemaking family, but came to this through a pure sense of curiosity and wonderment…and how we should try our hardest never to lose that.

Up next: Day 2, part II: Artadi (and Artazu & Izar-Leku)