Case of La Quimera 2020

Raúl Moreno La Quimera 2020 | VT Cádiz, Pago Carrascal, Jerez

Producer: Raúl Moreno Region: Pago Carrascal, Marco de Jerez, Andalusia, Spain Grape Variety: Pinot Noir (100%, organic, Carrascal albariza soils) Vessel: Second and third-year French oak — Taransaud and François Frères cooperages

The Vibe La Quimera — "The Chimera" — is named for something that shouldn't exist but does. When Raúl Moreno says he's growing Pinot Noir in Jerez, people think he's out of his mind. "Do people think I'm crazy? Yes, of course," he says. The albariza chalk soils of Carrascal disagree. The same limestone that structures Palomino for biological aging does something unexpectedly precise with Burgundy's most demanding grape — low pH, fine tannins, and an aromatic transparency that heat-grown Pinot rarely achieves. One highly regarded natural winemaker said of Moreno: "Raúl is playing chess while we are all playing checkers."

The Taste It's kind of subtle but it's like this: Fresh violet, sour cherry, rhubarb, and raspberry on the nose — perfumed, sensual, and precise. On the palate, a marked tension between acidity and savory depth, with a granular, sandy phenolic structure that is entirely the chalk's doing. Of Raúl's three Pinot cuvées, La Quimera is the most meaty — a fresh, farmyard-edge quality on the nose that resolves into something delicate and deft on the palate. Dense and Burgundy-like in frame, but under 13% alcohol and built for the table, for drinking with a great meal, not the trophy cabinet.

The Story Grapes are hand-harvested in multiple passes, micro-vinified in open-top tanks with 100% whole bunches, and then given two weeks of post-fermentative maceration. Pressing is held to 50% extraction. The wine then ages in second and third-year Taransaud and François Frères barrels, racked only once — at bottling — to preserve the dissolved CO₂. No sulphur is added during aging. No fining. No filtration. Moreno farms slightly under four hectares of his own organic vineyards and manages a further 22 hectares at Carrascal, working within a 12th-century renovated estate. La Quimera is the oak-aged sibling to La Castidad — same grape, same chalk, different vessel, different personality. Both are arguments the same terroir keeps winning.

Best Enjoyed With Serve at 14°C. Pan-seared quail, wild mushroom risotto, vitello tonnato, beef carpaccio, or aged Manchego. The savory tension makes it one of the most gastronomic reds in the Cosecha portfolio.

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