Samaruco

The Luis Pérez winery offers us their wine Samaruco as “the work of an artisan”. It is the very special selection of its creator, Luis Pérez, and a wine which proves to be a pleasant surprise right from the start, but also somewhat disconcerting: on a blind tasting, it would be difficult to place. It is, most definitely, a signature wine.

Samaruco is a coupage of varieties, mainly Syrah and Petit Verdot - this latter being the bodega's star grape - and aged in barrels previously used for one year. It is a fruit-forward wine, very accessible soon after opening the bottle; it doesn't require decanting, exhibiting all its merits within a short while of being poured into the glass. An intense colour and glycerin tears prepare the way for the dense nose to come: balsamic notes, which we've also already noted in its cellar-mate Garum, very ripe fruit, red and black, with notes of cherries steeped in liqueur and aromatic herbs, plus a mineral background. Warm and fresh at the same time, it offers a lovely, elegant combination – not a particularly complex wine but definitely very pleasurable - and one to enjoy on any occasion. After a sweetish entry, smooth but intense, its juiciness and discernible (yet not at all harsh) tannins end up by winning us over. It's persistent too: a wine easy to recommend and ready to enjoy.

(One last point: if you're curious to know more about the Petit Verdot variety, although its price puts it out of most people's reach due to its rarity and low production, we would recommend that you try, if you get the chance, this winery's single varietal: Petit Verdot Bodegas Luis Pérez. It really is quite amazing.)