TN: 2002 Bodegas Mauro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Vendimia Seleccionada

I had a sip of this at the Skurnik event in NY a few months ago and really liked it. The bottle showed a more decidedly modern and less developed profile than that tasting, but it’s an excellent wine in what otherwise was a bad year. Chalk it up to Mariano García.

  • 2002 Bodegas Mauro Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León Vendimia Seleccionada - Spain, Castilla y León, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León (8/28/2009)
    Black with a deep ruby rim. Pungent, intense nose of blackberry and plum, roasted coffee, summer herbs and wildflowers, with some pencil lead and a touch of 3-in-1 oil. Full bodied on the palate with great presence and a long finish. Lots of ripe tannins, so this should last awhile. (93 pts.)

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Hola Douglass.

Thanks for the note on Bodegas Mauro. I’ve never had any wine from them before, but was aware of the winery because I read about it and my eldest son’s name is Mauro. I now have some of their 2005 vintage, given to me as a gift by a friend who imports Spanish wine.

Your appreciation of this wine from “what otherwise was a bad year”. I didn’t know until I read your note that Mariano García is involved - that is very heartening indeed and makes me eager to try their wines.

Best,

N

I believe that he founded Mauro and was making wine there while he still worked at Vega Sicilia, and that his exit from Vega Sicilia was at least partly due to that competition. (But perhaps Víctor will correct me here …)

NB: they have two wines, the Mauro and the Mauro VS, rather like the Aalto and Aalto PS (also one of Mariano García’s wines). Mauro also has a luxury cuvée called “Terreus”, which I believe is from a single vineyard, the Pago de Cueva Baja.

Yes, what I was given was the VS. From my reading (spurred by your note), the winery was founded by an architect, Luciano Suarez, and a cousin of Mariano García, Felix Choque. I don’t know if the information I read is accurate, though.

N

Good wine, although not near the level of the best vintages. 1996 and 2001 are my favorites. Mariano Garcia did well also with Aalto in 2002, but again the wine is not as good as in the better years (2001, 2004).

Doug:

Mauro is their entry level wine in their Tudela del Duero winery, just outside of the Ribera del Duero DO. That wine has about 10% Syrah in its blend, a grape not allowed in Ribera del Duero. Recent vintages of Mauro Vendimia Seleccionada have been 100% Tempranillo. Earlier versions had some Garnacha in the blend.

The Terreus as you stated is obtained from a single vineyard. Due to recent Pagos regulations in Spain it can not use the Pago moniker on its label anymore. Since the 2003 vintage the label states Paraje de Cueva Baja.

Noel:

You should also look for Mariano’s wine from Toro, San Román. IMO the best wine from that region. Pretty much any wine that Mariano or his sons are involved with is a safe wine purchase.

The following link has a great article on Mariano and his sons.

SALUDos,
José

Mauro was founded in 1978 and is actually run by Mariano’s sons. Mariano isn’t the winemaker and has really very little to do with it. The family also own the estate in Toro called San Roman. I think they make four or five wines at any given time btw . . . but I am happy to be correct there.

José, thanks for the link. Good info.

I believe Mariano has semi-retired now, leaving the winemaking more in the hands of his sons, but not sure precisely how long ago that started. José’s link says, “In recent years, Eduardo has taken a larger role in day-to-day winemaking operations, while Mariano is more of a senior consultant who advises at a strategic level.” Nevertheless the article does suggest that Mariano and Eduardo still work together in doing the blending.

BTW- I meant to write: “I am happy to be corrected there . . .”

What I wrote kind of sounds a lot more snotty!

[neener.gif]

Mariano semi-retired! [swearing.gif]

He’s doing what he has for several years: making all the crucial decisions at Mauro, San Román and Aalto but relying heavily on his winemakers at each winery, which in Mauro’s and San Román’s case means his younger son Eduardo, one ofr the most gifted young enologists (and vineyard men) in Spain. His older son Alberto is the sales manager.

Well, if Eduardo is taking on “a larger role in day-to-day winemaking operations” as it said in José’s article, that suggests that Mariano is relegating a smaller role for himself. Perhaps you’d prefer not to describe that as semi-retiring, which I think is a natural way to describe this sort of situation, but simply moving upstairs? Or semi-retiring from winemaking? Or cooperating more in the winemaking? (And I certainly did not intend to leave the impression that Eduardo was anything but a gifted winemaker in his own right …)

FWIW I think Paul Draper at Ridge is in a similar situation, where he’s been stepping back somewhat and letting the younger generation there make more of the day-to-day decisions.

What I meant was what I meant, Douglass, really: the set-up hasn’t changed in the past eight years, since Eduardo graduated from the Faculté d’Oenologie in Bordeaux. He immediately took over as executive winemaker at Mauro and San Román, the same role played by José Carlos García Vega at Aalto since its start in 1999, with Mariano retaining overall responsibility as winemaking director. This is usual procedure when a senior winemaker is in charge of several large wineries. It isn’t retirement or semi-retirement. It’s… being the boss and the co-owner, basically. You wouldn’t expect Mariano to be conducting every pH analysis at each of the three wineries. But there’s no gradual ‘easing up’ for him, for the time being, so I believe that the term ‘semi-retirement’ does not describe their set-up adequately.

OK, fair enough. Thanks for the clarification.