Mas l'Altet
Nina Coolsaet
Eight years ago, Alfredo (engineer from Alicante) and Nina (bio-engineer from Belgium) started both independently a master of oenology in Aranda del Duero since they both were passioned by wine. In the first lecture, Alfredo took the seat next to Nina since it was the only one still available. During the break they started talking and that, after some months, resulted not only in a relation but also in the creation of a winery named "Bodega Mas L'Altet". It looked as if it was destiny. The fact was that Alfredo already planted some vines as a pilot plant on the land of his beloved grandfather several years before that. With this experience and the dream to give it another dimension, Alfredo and Nina decided to plant two hectares. This land had lost a long history of wine making due to “Phylloxera” that affected all the vineyards in the area in the beginning of the 20th century. It was Alfredo’s and his grandfather’s dream to build up again this lost tradition. Three years after the plantation, in 2007, the first wine was made and named “AVI” or “grandfather” in the local language. This name was chosen as an “homage” to Alfredo’s grandfather.
The vineyard is situated in south of Valencia, Agres, before the old house or "mas" where Alfredo´s mother was born but that was abandoned for many years. We started to renovate the house two years ago and the winery is already forming part of it. The philosophy behind this renovation is to stay close to the wine and vineyard and to able to receive visitors and friends in an atmosphere that reflects as much as possible who we are and where everybody feels welcome.
The vineyard is situated in a microclimate at 600m height with strong winters and relatively high rainfall, although it is only at 30 kms of Villena. This gives the wine a special freshness with a mediterrean touch. Together with the fact that is a waterholding soil, we do not irrigate at all, which is quite exceptional in Spain. Besides, the limited surface cultivated makes that we take care of the vineyard as if it was our garden. We respect the fruits at its maximum during the wine making after a very strong selection.
All this results in a very personal, feminine wine with a touch of minerality and integrated wood.
As comented before, since we only have 2 hectares and we want to have a close control of everything, the production is maintained very low. Our first vintage was 2007, only 1200 bottles (sold out), the second vintage 2008, 2670 bottles (only a few left in Belgium) and 2009 (6200 bottles) that we expect to be ready for Christmass 2011.
AVI 2009 is a very special vintage for us since it is the year where our son "Luka" was born just on the day that we started the harvest of the first grapes. We will definitely keep some bottles for him that he will be able to drink on special events...
We keep you informed about the further developments...
Nina.
