Mas Estela Quindals and Basque seafood stew

Mas Estela in Spain's Empordà region.


Steve Miles, a Denver based importer of Spanish, French and Portuguese wines (Steve Miles Selections), labored for twelve years under another well known importer until he woke up one morning with the realization that his taste had changed, and he was not selling the type of wines he truly believed in.

Basically, according to Miles, “wines were starting to taste all the same… people were making them more for the palate… delicious, yes, but just as often over-extracted, over-the-top in alcohol, and beaten to death with wood… and in the process these wines were all starting to miss a sense of place… the qualities connecting them to where they come from.”

So in 2006 Miles did the only thing a conscientious wine man can do, which was start his own company, and comb the nicks and crannies of Europe (especially Spain) for wines that satisfy his newfound thirst for an authenticity related directly to the concept of terroir: wines that taste of the grapes and region whence they come, by winemakers who care more about that than making something to impress critics or fit the latest fashion.



Miles has already accomplished exactly that, and the 2005 Mas Estela Quindals may be a quintessential Steve Miles selection. Because...

1. It has a nose layered with ripe, gooey rich, wild cherry over a tighter, concentrated, blackberry liqueur-like aroma and distinctive anise and peppery spice nuances, all reflecting the low yield harvest of black Garnacha grape (90% of the Quindals), with the multifaceted qualities coming from Syrah (5%) and Cariñena (5%).

2. On the palate, the fruit qualities are lush and fleshy, but wrapped around a thick, dense, round and polished core of tannin and stony, minerally sensations – direct reflections of the slate encrusted soil of Mas Estel’s mountainside terrain.



Mas Estel is, in fact, a biodynamically cultivated vineyard situated at the far north-east corner of Spain (a region called Empordà), surrounded by the Cap Creus Nature Park, stones throws away from the Mediterranean and Catalan France.

The ideal food match?  Just like red Bandol from France is often paired with bouillabaisse with garlicky aioli, and California Pinot Noir often with San Francisco style cioppino, the Quindals is lush enough to drink deliciously with a plum tomato, pungent sage, paprika and bell pepper laced stew like this Basque seafood stew.  


Basque seafood stew. The Spruce Eats.


The only thing I might do differently is add judicious chunks of chorizo to give this red wine something further to chew on. Finally, although the baby octopus called for in this recipe may not always be available, if you can find it, do it, because there’s nothing like the earthy, soft, toothsome yet high-umami taste of octopus with a terroir driven, multi-textured red such as Mas Estel’s.  


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