Keen on lean, fresh-feeling reds that rock low alcohol content and a whole lotta drinkability? Step right this way. Panduro Vinos is a newish label out of Mallorca that has just landed here in Aus thanks to the always tip-top work of importer/rascal Giorgio De Maria. The project is a collaboration between two self-taught migratory winemaking pals, who’ve crushed juice all over Spain but settled on the scrubby Balearic Island to do things their way and make wine they want to drink.
The 2023 Mianes is the lightest of the bunch, made from the endemic manto negro grape, and pulsing with wild cranberry/pomegranate character and that distinctive Mediterranean see-saw of dried herbs and sea salt. Too early to call it the wine of the summer? Maybe, but time will tell. Another native variety, callet, makes up the 2023 Quarterada, all dialled-up tart red fruits underlined by a whisper of meatiness granite-like minerality yet still just 11.5% ABV. Ooh yes.
Callet takes centre stage once again in the 2023 Quarto, which throws some stem into the fold and emerges all the better for it – slightly shrubby and laced with anise, framed by flavours of black cherry, gravel and sweet spice. And then there’s the 2023 Viejas de Monastrell – or mataro, or mourvèdre – from slightly older vines lending greater depth of flavour and more body to the mesh of black plums, game and turned earth, tense with salinity and ample tannin. We’d say take all four, but any one is a good start.