The Mina Penélope Estate
Founded: 2014 by Verónica Santiago and Nathaniel Malagón
Region and grape source: Wines are primarily made from organically grown estate vineyards tucked into a tight fold on the valley wall of Valle de Guadalupe. They source from additional select vineyards as needed from vintage to vintage. All are organically maintained.
Winemaker: Verónica Santiago (Mexican born, studied agriculture at University of Monterrey)
Vineyard elevations and grape origins:
- Valle de Guadalupe - 1,000 ft - (Nebbiolo, Mourvedre, Montepulciano, Aglianico, Syrah, Grenache, and Sauvignon Blanc). Decomposed granite and clay soils.
Notes:
- Production is minuscule; everything is done by hand by a husband and wife team who are the definition of the passion one finds in the small growers of the region.
- Vineyard site is 15 years old and Nathaniel Malagon who tends the vineyards comes from one of the oldest grape growing families in Valle de Guadalupe.
- Winemaker Veronica Santiago is one of the most well-respected winemakers in the valley and her pallet has shown itself in blind tastings to be one of the best. The wines she and Nathaniel are making are at once elegant, informed, and remarkably rustic old world in style. These wines follow closely the natural wine making style championed in the Loire and Saone valleys and emulate closely the body compositions and flavor profiles of the wines made in this area with minimal intervention.
Total production: 9 wines, 1,300 cases
2021 Mina Tinto - Mina Penélope
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
This is the wine in the red line up from Mina Penelope whose focus leans on restraint. Gorgeous fruit is packed in tightly wound layers that will graciously reward those who take the time to cellar this wine. A wine like this is all about a very light hand in the cellar and fastidious vineyard management. One of the handful of wines from Mexico that you really do want to leave in the cellar for some time before opening, this is a great example of the good things to come from this region.
90 cases made
Drinking Window: Upon release (with decant) - 20 years
Vintage:
2021
Blend:
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 20% Carmenere
Producer:
Mina Penélope
Winemaker:
Veronica Santiago - Mexican
Vineyards:
All grapes were sourced from estate vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe, ejido of San Antonio de Las Minas. The vineyards are planted across an undulating hillside at a elevation of 900 to 975 ft elevation at 2 miles from the Pacific. The vines were planted in 2007 in soils of decomposed granite and clay.
Winemaking:
All grapes were harvested from estate vineyards on October 1st. Grapes were pressed and fermented on the skins and seeds in stainless steel tanks before being racked into 1st, 2nd and 3rd use French and American oak barrels and aged for 12 months before bottling.
Sulfites: 55 ppm
Farming:
Organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
11.4%
