My wine of the week is a rosé called Dehesa de Luna. Made from Cabernet Sauvignon, it spends three months on its lees. I liked the texture and color of this beautiful salmon colored rosé. It had nice mineral, red berry fruit, and floral notes and an earthiness that was unexpected. I had it with some Spanish tapas and thought it was delicious. They write on their tech sheet that “Una vez destapado, pasa como con el verano, que se acaba sin darnos cuenta.” Once it’s opened, it goes by (goes down) like the summer, without us realizing it. In other words quickly. I can second that. I can imagine drinking a number of bottles of this in one sitting very easily.

The winery is in paradise, from the photos, in the Castilla -La Mancha region. Begun 20 years ago by Alfredo Gómez-Torres Gómez-Trénor, they pride themselves on their stewardship of the land. In addition to wine, they make extra virgin olive oil, flour, almonds, pistachios and honey. They have 3000 hectares, only 4% or 83 hectares are planted with vines.

They follow various practices to maintain the biodiversity of their lands including:

• Ecological cultivation across the whole estate
• Using ground cover vegetation in the vineyards to protect the ground from erosion and naturally increase its fertility
• Sensible use of water for irrigation
• Incorporating the wood from vine-pruning into the soil to increase its fertility
• Using renewable solar energy in the winery
• Harvesting cereals and legumes with respect for the natural reproduction cycle of indigenous birds

Moreover, their 3000 hectare bioversity reserve is a haven for birds. You can see among others, imperial and royal eagles, curlews, Bonelli’s eagles, goshawks, kites, peregrine falcons, bustards and red partridges.

The wine labels show this affinity and attention to birds.