4 Kilos Wines, Mallorca, Spain

by Tom cannavan, 06/12

At one of the regular customer tastings staged by excellent wine merchant WoodWinters of Bridge of Allan and Edinburgh in Scotland, a couple of striking bottles caught my eye. The wines come from the Spanish island of Mallorca (Majorca), made by 4 Kilos, a company founded in 2006 by partners Francesc Grimalt and Sergio Caballero, dedicated to producing wines mainly from the native grape Callet.

Sergio Caballero is musician and founding partner of the Sonar festival of advanced music and multi media arts, so the eye-catching labels and names are his, whilst Francesc Grimalt makes the wines. Their winery is a converted sheep farm, but grapes come from selected local growers. Vineyards are located in different parts of the north and south of the island, and so the wines do not belong to any D.O. As well as Callet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Monastrell and and Syrah are utilised.

the wines

4 Kilos, 12 Volts 2010, Spain
Made from the 40% of the indigenous Callet grape variety plus 30% Syrah, 20% Cabernet Sauvingon and 10% Merlot, 40% of it aged in new American oak barriques, 30% in older French barriques and 30% in very large barrels. This is rustic, with a creamy, bloody, but intriguing nose showing solid plum fruit and a certain bloody smokiness. The palate has deliciously juicy charcter, plenty of rustic tannin and grip, but a savoury balance and a fresh finish that is delicious. Juicy and food-friendly stuff. 90/100. £19.50, WoodWinters. Find on wine-searcher.

4 Kilos, 4 Kilos 2009, Spain
Made from 70% Callet plus 20% Cabernet and 10% Syrah, which for this cuvée is aged in new French oak barriques for 14 months. This really smooths out the rusticity of the 12 Volts, with still some gamy notes of bloodiness, but a composed, silky, blue/black fruit density. There's richness and dryness to this, but the sweet core of fruit and beautifully composed texture and balance of the finish is superb. A wine that feels as though it will age gracefully, but has flesh, substance and fine, savoury freshness. 92/100. £30.00, WoodWinters. Find on wine-searcher.