El Gaitero was founded in 1890 by Valle, Ballina y Fernández families as a cider factory that developed into a long and successful venture. The alliance and shared vision of the brothers Alberto and Eladio del Valle, Bernardo de la Ballina and Ángel Fernández gave its name to the company. These entrepreneurs, like many enlightened Asturians of the time, recognized the potential of apple planting and the industrialization of the region as a means of fostering prosperity in Asturias.
They acquired the machinery that would enable them to begin production of ‘champagne cider’ in the borough of Villaviciosa. At that time many Asturians emigrated to America in search of a better life and future. During this long journey cider could easily spoil, so in order to keep all of its properties intact, the champagne method was used. In the late 19th century, and following the arrival of Obdulio Fernández, the company would experience the first of its golden ages: securing the strategic site at La Espuncia and converting El Gaitero cider into a household name around the world. The business partners made further investments aimed at centralizing production of El Gaitero on a single site - a strategy that would be reinforced years later, with the construction in 1915 of the company’s own bottle factory. In the 1950s, and under the management of José Cardín, the company experienced a period of unprecedented growth thanks to the extension work carried out on the mill and the diversification of the El Gaitero brand.
Today, El Gaitero group is a modern, forward-thinking company boasting a hundred-year history that perpetuates the value of its heritage and traditional production methods, whilst constantly looking ahead to innovation and development based on the use of cutting-edge technologies. Its facilities, which have been declared an Industrial Heritage site, now extend over more than 40,000 square meters and its cider production stands at 27 million liters a year. The company is committed to developing products based on innovation and tradition, such as its modern and refined ciders and sparkling bruts.
The grapes for this sparkling are sourced from high elevation areas throughout Spain. Don Piere offers a crystal clear pale yellow color, small and abundant bubbles of great finesse and elegance. The nose shows light and pleasant citrus and fresh fruit aromas. Well-balanced and refreshing on the palate with fruity flavors, good acidity and pleasant texture.
mixed in a Bellini. Ideal sparkling to share with friends and celebrate.The wine is a great match with appetizers, grilled fish, or desserts and cocktails,
Faust The Pact Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot, 2% Merlot.
Dark, exotic spice-with star anise in the lead—opens on a complex nose layered with sweet tobacco, savory herb and olive notes, and a lovely vein of graphite minerality under briar-kissed blueberry. The palate is electric, its deceptive power couched in chalky, tight-knit cannins. Black raspberry joins blueberry, with wet slate and soil-driven, iron-rich minerality spilling into a long, perfectly balanced finish, serious and hedonistic at once.
Review:
So many graphite and pencil shaving aromas here with blue fruits. Slate and tar undertones. Black and red currants. Some ash. Medium-bodied with open grained tannins. So much iron and rust with lead and mussel shell. Then turns to pine cone and cedar. Really complex and flavor intensive. Love to drink it now as a young wine. This evolves all the time. It will age beautifully. Better in three to five years. But I can’t wait.
- 97 Points James Suckling
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The 2021 ‘Sestina’ is a gorgeous blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Needing about 30 minutes in the decanter to fully unwind, this yields beautiful black florals that mingle well with wet stone, Black Forest Cake and suggestions of huckleberry with garrigue notes. The palate is soft and refined with a silky texture and beautiful sense of elegance and weight. This is seamless throughout the drinking experience, loaded with black fruit flavors with dark chocolate shavings and suggestions of underbrush. Refined tannins frame this stunning heavyhitter of a Cabernet that is already drinking beautifully now at the three year mark. Savor this beauty now and over the next fifteen to twenty years.
-Owen Bargreen 96 Points
"The book end to the Right Bank-inspired Valery, this is the Left Bank-inspired wine which blends 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. Sourced from old vine Bacchus, Dionysus, Red Willow and DuBrul grapes, it’s given the rock star treatment with 21 months in 50% new French oak. I love the flavors of the well-chosen barrels, which match those spicy/toasty notes to fruit with both power and palate presence. Beautifully structured, powerful yet restrained, with ripe black fruits that trail into powdery tannins, this is a special wine with a long life ahead."
- Paul Gregutt 97 Points