Is this a trend? I recently wrote about the unavailability in Spain of Bodega Enguera’s Casa Lluch verdil 2010. I now find that another wine that is being praised in the UK is not sold in Spain, let alone Valencia. This time it is Saleta moscatel-sauvignon blanc 2011 (DO Alicante), which I saw in the Wine Society’s “Complete Spain” Offer. I am unfamiliar with the wine, so I looked around a bit, and found that it is made by Artiga. Their website explains that they “assume a New-World approach to consumer-focus and simplicity, in developing high-value, modern Spanish wines”, and make wines in the DOs of Campo de Borja, La Mancha, Jumilla and Alicante. The Artiga website currently has our old friend “Lorem Ipsum” as the text on the page for this wine, so I can’t tell you much more. I note that the wine won a gold medal at “Muscats du Monde 2012” at which another of their muscats, Mariola, featured in the “top ten“. The Wine Gang described the Saleta in October 2012 as “Refreshment in a wine glass”.
So, congratulations are in order, but I’ll have to wait until I travel to the UK before I experience the wine in the flesh alongside Enguera’s Casa Lluch verdil. One day I’ll understand the underlying commercial reasons for this.