This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)
At Bodegas Arzuaga, we know that tradition and innovation are two concepts that go hand in hand. That’s why we keep placing lots of emphasis on our classic wines and producing them with the same dedication as always, while we also innovate and create new wines so we can offer you something different that’s always high in quality. Today, we’d like to tell you about the latest wine we’ve brought out here at Bodegas Arzuaga: Pago Mota. A wine that gets its name from a small bird that lives in the brambles. It’s a unique bird that’s not easy to see, that you have to discover, like this wine.
Pago Mota is single-variety Chardonnay that’s barrel fermented and aged in stainless steel. Like Pago Florentino, this wine comes from our vineyards in Ciudad Real and, as Ignacio Arzuaga, managing manager of Bodegas Arzuaga, explains, Pago Mota is a ‘fresh, dynamic and cheerful’ wine.
If we focus on the different tasting phases, in terms of the appearance we find a ‘yellow, slightly greenish’ wine, ‘which denotes its youth’. Bringing the glass to your nose, you’ll find, as Arzuaga explains, ‘good aromatic intensity, with very interesting citrus aromas’. On the palate, you’ll see that it isn’t heavy, but rather its freshness makes it a wine ‘that invites you to drink’ it. As Arzuaga notes, this wine, which comes under the Protected Geographical Indication Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, ‘is a different wine from the ones that are usually made in the Mancha area, which can take us to more central European areas’. He points out that ‘it’s unctuous, pleasant on the palate’, with ‘a good acidity that settles on the tongue but that is well integrated into the structure of the wine’.
This acidity that will have an influence on which culinary options fit best with this wine. In this sense, the pairings Arzuaga suggests are focused on fish, although prepared in different ways. So, he mentions both fried fish as well as ‘Japanese food, with raw or semi-raw fish with a sweet soy sauce’. In addition, thinking about more traditional recipes, Pago Mota goes perfectly with ‘fish cooked in salt or grilled’. That said, Arzuaga says, ‘it’s also good for just having a few glasses on its own or as an aperitif since it’s going to refresh your mouth on these hot summer days’.
‘This wine can be a surprise. We wanted to make a dynamic wine, an everyday wine, since its price is also reasonable.’ ‘A free and easy wine that’s fresh and easy to drink’ that Arzuaga defines in three words: ‘versatile, cheerful and fun’.