Les Freses

ALICANTE

Mara Bañó’s winery is just round the corner from the Mediterranean hotspot of Dénia, and her vineyards are surely prime building land. Fortunately, the estate is located in Montgó natural park, named for the mountain that overlooks the vineyards. In 2009, Bañó acquired 14ha, an abandoned property that had been a strawberry farm, hence the name ‘Les Freses’. ‘The person to blame is my friend Pablo Calatayud [from Celler del Roure (see p33)]. He gave me the impetus and helped me with the first decisions to transform the estate into a vineyard. We planted local varieties.’ First up was Moscatel, of which she has a mix of clones on different rootstocks, and in the last three years, Forcallà – ‘which I adore’. Her reds also include Bobal, Forcallà, Garnacha, Giró, Monastrell and Montalvana.

She is particularly enthusiastic about her amphorae, returning to the original tradition of winemaking. They were made by Carles Llarch in Penedès using clay from Les Freses. The shape follows the design of 7th-century BC amphorae found in the region.

‘The good thing is that the lees settle very quickly. I don’t have to filter my Amfora wine (right), or stabilise, or use sulphites – you could call it “natural” with its tiny amount of SO2.’ Bañó’s first vintage was 300 bottles; she now makes a comfortable 30,000. She is only at the beginning and is one to watch.

Les Freses, Amfora, Alicante 2019 91 N/A UK www. lesfreses.com

Amfora spends seven months on lees in 350-litre amphorae, and there’s no sense of chalkiness or clay in the palate, but instead a complexity that overlays the purity of the Moscatel grapes. It’s a wine that celebrates the long and proud history of winemaking in the Alt de Benimaquia zone of Alicante. Like its predecessors – unfiltered, no tartaric stabilisation, no added sulphites – and all the better for it. Drink 2021-2023 Alc 12.5%