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That Useful Wine Site
Wine explained, clearly and helpfully, including critic-recommended specimens of each variety.
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Some Descriptions of Sumoll Wines
“Young wine from Sumoll grape has a slight roughness that disappears with aging. Its production is low and treatment for achieving quality wines requires high skills in wine production…It has been replaced by other varieties and nowadays its culture is rare, with less than one hundred hectares planted (247 acres). This trend has begun to change within the last years. Wine growers are starting to recover and appreciate this variety, as they see an opportunity to create original wines that differentiate themselves…”
“Wines made from the variety have a distinctive cherry flavor and a pronounced mineral characteristic. They can sometimes lack acidity, and are best drunk young.”
“[Catalonia’s] winemakers should however demand wider recognition of its native variety Sumoll, so different and to me, rather more interesting than Tempranillo. In the right hands and with the right temperament, this native Catalan variety could go a long way.”
“Wines made of Sumoll have good acidity with a bitter finish that fades slowly…The aroma of Sumoll has notes of raspberries, black fruits such as blackberries, cocoa and an earthiness.”
“The wines prepared out of this red wine grape variety are considered to be similar to cherry as to its flavor. These wines possess mineral characteristics which is remarkable indeed…There are seductive aromas of sweaty horse saddle, scrub herbs as well as chocolate in these wines.”
“Sumoll’s low pH aids the production of the rosé, sparkling and sweet wines, but presents a challenge for the medium-bodied reds, especially given the high level of tannins in the grapes…Pale in colour, flavours and aromas range from ‘herbal, rose petal, liquorice and dark plum’ to ‘Mediterranean undergrowth with green touches, green fennel, thyme and a strong mineral character’. But, most of all, it’s the grape’s rusticity and acidity that get highlighted.”
“Difficult to grow, difficult to vinify, difficult to comprehend…if Cabernet Sauvignon is Beethoven, then Sumoll is Miles Davis.”
“They’re making noise in New York and now wines made from the recovered Catalan grape variety Sumoll, known as the Pinot Noir of the Mediterranean, are starting to make a splash in Britain…‘These wines are different, incredibly food friendly and of very high quality - they are the very essence of new wave Spain,’ said Peter Mitchell MW [Master of Wine]…‘Sumoll wines appeal due to their freshness and low alcohol,’ said Sarah Jane Evans MW”