..welcome to our first ever Producer Spotlight segment. Here, we will delve into the stories behind the labels and give some airtime to the amazing people making the wines we love.
First up is a relative newcomer to our portfolio, LMT Wines…
The Story
Luis Moya Tortosa (LMT) is an experienced winemaker and barrel salesman based in Navarra and Rioja, Northern Spain. After discovering his love for wine whilst working a bar job in Pamplona, Luis spent his formative years in the wine industry working for local co-ops and travelling around the area.
Importantly, this gave him the inside track on where the best vineyard sites were. It also highlighted to Luis how many of these parcels of grapes went to waste, never to recognise their potential. Old sites would often be scrubbed up and replaced with higher yielding young vines, whilst others were simply swallowed up into blends.
In 2012, and after picking up more wine qualifications than you can shake a stick at, Luis decided to go it alone with a unique business model. 'LMT Wines' would not be a single estate winery making wines from one plot. Instead, knowing where the best sites were, he would use his contacts to pick up these amazing parcels knowing so much more could be made of them with the right care and attention.
He calls it a nomad approach, where he has no physical premises but instead rents winemaking space in existing wineries. This allows a huge degree of flexibility and potential to develop his portfolio as he seeks out new and amazing plots across Northern Spain.
The wines
Though there’s huge difference in the plots of lands Luis works with, his winemaking style can be described as minimal intervention. He will only intervene when it will improve the wine and practises gentle filtration techniques and an “only when necessary” approach to using sulphur. His ultimate goal is always to let the grape variety be the star of the show.
MASUSTA
Meaning “blackberry”, in reference to the huge blackberry bush in the centre of this 1.5ha vineyard, Masusta is a 100% Garnacha wine from vines aged 70 years old, that are farmed to Biodynamic and Organic principals.
Hand harvested, de-stemmed, fermented with native yeasts and aged in a mixture of used oak barrels and demijohns for 12 months. Before bottling, the wine is naturally clarified using gravity alone.
A powerful wine, packed full of complex black fruit and dried fruit flavours. The oak adds a touch of cedar and toast. The rich flavours are superbly balanced by a vibrant acidity and silky tannins. Decant an hour or so before consuming for ultimate enjoyment.
3,200 bottles made per year.
MALASOMBRA
Meaning “a person without luck”, Malasombra is a nod to Luis’ trials and tribulations in securing this parcel, his first from Rioja, after a few thwarted attempts. The wine is a rare 100% Graciano and certified organic. Graciano is incredibly difficult to grow and actually does better on the warmer, drier Eastern plains of Rioja rather than in the more sought-after higher western areas.
This wine is made with varietal fruit character always in mind. To help with this, Malasombra macerates on the skins for 60 days followed by and a cold fermentation aided by native yeasts.
Malolactic fermentation takes place in stainless steel and the wine spends 12 months in 2nd use 500L barrels. It is then bottled without clarifying or filtering
Characteristic Graciano deep colour with aromas of blueberry, mulberry and violet. Mouth coating texture and endless fruit concentration backed up with a very gentle touch of oak spice and toast. A pretty much endless finish.
Just 1,200 bottles made per year.
KIMERA
Luis’ 2nd 100% Garnaxta (Garnacha) is aged without the use of oak and instead uses clay amphorae. The name Kimera refers to the pursuit of an “unrealistic” dream or ideal but is also an ancient Greek name for a hybrid animal like a Centaur or Griffin.
Kimera comes from exceptional vineyards between 35 and 65 years old in San Martín de Unx on the lower mountains of Navarra that are spread over different plots at an altitude of 300m.
Kimera, a collaboration of Luis with his friend, Gonzalo Celayeta, aims to show terroir and the particularity of the Garnatxa from this superb wine growing area of Navarra. Spontaneous fermentation takes place at 28º C and is macerated for 15 days with two daily pump-overs. From here the wine is transferred to amphora for the malolactic fermentation and aging for 10 months.
Incredibly pure and fruit forward, a hallmark of a well-made amphorae wine. Blackberry, raspberry, plum beautifully backed up by a slight herbaceousness. More complex fruits come through on the palate, including a light touch of liquorice and sweet spice.
6,000 bottles made per year.
These wines represent everything great about both minimal intervention and the new wave of modern Spanish wines and we are thrilled to have them in our portfolio. Look out for further additions to our range from Luis, with a method ancestral on the radar and plenty of other potentials too.
If you'd like to know any more please just get in touch. We look forward to sharing more of our talented producers with you in the coming months. Cheers!
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