Bermejos Espumado Rosado Brut Nature (sparkling rosé)
2019 Bermejos Listán Negro Rosado Brut Nature
Lanzarote, Canary Islands
Grape: Listan Negro
DAME WINE CLUB PICK
PARTY PEOPLE OCTOBER 2023
The volcanic moonscape of the Los Bermejos vineyards stand out as some of the most unusual in the world. The sandy Kunság PDO in Hungary and mind-boggling steep slopes of the Mosel are two others that come to mind. Google them…so cool. I remember seeing photos of the Lanzarote vines for the frist time and not believing they were real. The look like you’re on a dark moon. But, life springs forth. They work with Listán Negro, Malvasía Volcanica, and Diego Seco grapes.
The wines from Los Bermejos are just special – from the volcanic soils, otherworldly vineyards, to the beautiful bottle design of the still wines, which have a little fountain pour spout shaped into the glass (Chef Kyle Christy collected them while we worked together at Dame, before he opened Street Disco, and they were put to use as water bottles).
We used to be able to pour the rosé by the glass and now we’re only allocated a case a year…people have caught on after glowing press in the NYT and other publications. Damn. Happy for peeps enjoying the wines, but a bummer for us. We often keep the Diego Seco, a salty, fruity, and refreshing white on the bottle list and now have some sparkling to share.
I first had a Bermejos sparkling at a beautiful meal at Nogoduro. One of my dining companions that night was Jeff Vejr, proprietor of Les Caves and L’Orange and winemaker of Golden Cluster and Vinous Obscura. Shout out to a former wine club pick, Vinous Obscura Grand Bazaar. Side note, if you like beautiful white wine – swoop up his Golden Cluster 'The First Row' Single Row Old Vine Field Blend. It is such a good wine. Jeff was doing the wine program for Nogoduro, so we may have received generous pours – and I was grateful for that. I didn’t care about the other wines, I just wanted to stick with the Bermejos bubs. So, thrilled to share this bottle with you.
Bermejos Espumado Rosado Brut Nature
Listán Negro
Canary Islands, Spain
“Owned and run by winemaker Ignacio Valdera, Bermejos is on the easternmost island of Lanzarote. Only 125km from the African coast, conditions here are extreme. A volcanic explosion that lasted from 1730-1736 covered the entire island in lava and ash 3-5 meters deep. Consequently, each vine must be planted in a hole or hoyo that breaks through that infertile volcanic crust of petrified lava to the organic matter that can nourish it. The wind, which acts as a natural fungicide, is so ferocious that each hoyo is surrounded by rock walls for protection. The flora on Lanzarote – including the vines – cannot grow up very high; there are not enough nutrients in the soil to support sprawling greenery. Yields are miniscule (16 hL/ha) and each berry is concentrated with flavor. All vineyard work is done meticulously by hand. Some of the wines are certified organic, depending on the vintage. Ignacio supplements his crop with purchased fruit from growers who share his vision of sustainable viticulture; with such low yields the winery would have to own most of the land on the island in order to produce financially sustainable quantities of wine from exclusively proprietary grapes.
The base wine is 100% Listán Negro from a single vintage. The grapes are very gently pressed in a pneumatic press, resulting in a very pale salmon-hued wine. Aged 15 months sur lie and made using Méthode Champenoise. Zero dosage.” -Bowler Wine
