The sweet white 2018 Casta Diva Cosecha Miel was produced with their best Moscatel de Alejandría grapes, looking for lower alcohol and more acidity. They added a little alcohol to the must to slow down the fermentation in barrel until it stopped. It matured in a mixture of barrels of oak from different origins for at least two years. It was fortified to 14% alcohol while it kept a pH of 3.4 and retained 165 grams of sugar per liter. It has a very expressive nose with notes of candied orange peel and white flowers with a spicy twist. 2018 was a fresher vintage in the zone; the wine is not too sweet, and it comes through as balanced and with good freshness 12,000 half bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2021. This is their biggest hit.

The first sweet Moscatel was the 2014 Casta Diva Cosecha Miel, fermented with indigenous yeasts and fortified with alcohol to stop the fermentation so it could be bottled, with 160 grams of sugar and 13.5% alcohol. It was kept in oak barrels from America, France, Hungary and the Caucasus before it was bottled. This is so honeyed that the name has never made more sense (miel is the Spanish word for honey). You can notice a riper, warmer vintage; it's sweet, with moderate acidity, and with moderate alcohol to make it easier to drink. It develops aromas of candied orange peel with time in the glass. 20,000 bottles produced. There are three lots bottled at slightly different times.

Dried apricot and orange peel flavors are jolted by strong ginger, clove and burnt caramel notes in this assertive white, which is quite sweet but has enough acidity for balance. Drink now. 2,500 cases made.??–TM??Region: Spain / Alicante Select to Add

The 2013 Casta Diva Cosecha Miel boasts 214 grams of sugar and 13.5% alcohol. It was produced with very ripe Moscatel grapes from old vines on chalk soils at 100 meters altitude very close to the sea. The wine is fermented in oak barrels and fortified when they consider it has reach the sugar level they are looking for, then aged for 12 months in these barrels. The nose is very intense, with notes of dried roses, orange peel, apricots and honey revealing a quite ripe character and also a little bit of alcohol. The palate is sweet, light and easy to drink with honeyed and balsamic flavors plus a very long and persistent finish. Textbook Mediterranean Moscatel. 30,000 bottles were produced.

The 2011 Casta Diva Cosecha Miel is produced from overripe (and some raisins) 40-year-old Moscatel grapes grown at 200 meters above sea level, and is very marked by its slow fermentation in barrel, where it also stayed for 12 months. It has a very smoky, balsamic nose with aromas of camphor, rosemary and thyme notes that seem to counterbalance the inherent notes of the Moscatel, giving it freshness and making it quite unique. It boasts 130 grams of residual sugar, so it can be a dessert on its own. 30,000 bottles produced. This is the sweet wine that made them famous, and the one produced in bigger volume. Drink 2013-2016. The winery, created in 1978 by Felipe Gutierrez de la Vega, a literature and music lover – hence all the artistic references in the names of his wines – is one of the most original throughout Spain, with a wide range of wines. They are located in Parcent, in the Marina subzone of Alicante, very close to the sea, between Benidorm and Denia, where the specialty is Moscatel. The zone is very interesting because the vineyards are located at 700 meters altitude and very close to the sea, which contributes to extra freshness. All their vineyards are dry-farmed and pruned in the old goblet or bush style. They only own two hectares but rent and work a further eight. No external yeasts are used for the fermentations. Daughter Violeta, who studied oenology in Bordeaux, is slowly taking over the winemaking from her father and I have the feeling she’s bringing fresh, new ideas. I know she’s searching for high altitude, almost-forgotten, old-Grenache vineyards to produce some personal wines of her own. There are not that many wineries specializing in sweet wines in Spain; this is one of them, and for me, one of the best. Total production is around 100,000 bottles per year. A (not so new) name to follow, as the new wines show a very promising profile. Other than in Jerez, there are not so many wineries specializing in sweet wines in Spain, but Gutierrez de la Vega is one of them. They have traditionally produced a wide range of wines using Moscatel grapes. All their Moscatels, dry and sweet, share the Casta Diva name, with a subtitle to differentiate them. To complete the range, they are doing some sweet red Fondillon, the traditional rancio wine from Alicante produced in a solera system and aged for a minimum of ten years. Gutierrez de la Vega, of course, does it in his special way, and has released some single-vintage Fondillon, until he had enough old blended wine to start bottling the solera. Importer: Classical Wines, Seattle, WA; tel. (206) 297-6713; www.classicalwines.com