Paso-Primero Organic wine
Paso-Primero - Organic wine on Brewser this January.
I know you didn’t sign up to Brewser to hear about wine, but look, it’s a new year. A time to try new things. And I’m here to explain why my wines fit alongside the incredible beers you’re used to.
My name is Tom, I'm the winemaker for Paso-Primero in the Pyrenees in northern Spain. I am not Spanish, and I don’t own a winery, but I’ve managed to turn a passion for drinking wine into a life making wine.
The journey to get here is nearly twenty years long and probably best shared in person with an open bottle nearby, but essentially, I went from working in a wine shop in Shrewsbury and studying wine production in Brighton, to living in New Zealand and then Canada. Throughout that time, I was always working for other people and making wines in their style, which was great, but I wanted to make wine in my style. So, I drove to Spain in a van with a tent and a couple of chairs looking for somewhere that would let me in to make it.
It took a while but eventually I found a winery that was prepared to rent me their kit and let me loose on their infrastructure to make my first ever wine; Paso-Primero Tinto. That first vintage was a huge success, and I managed to convince the parent winery to let me come back the following vintage. Fast forward ten years and I’ve become part of the fabric of the winery spearheading the move to organic and regenerative farming, encouraging the shift towards traditional production techniques with concrete tanks, extended stem contact, and wild ferments, and reinvigorating a sense of regionality with increased focus on indigenous varieties.
It’s been a lot. A huge collaborative effort and a complete shift from what our region (Somontano) has become known for. But, together with our parent winery, we never lost sight of what we were trying to do in the first place; make wines we believe in.
It sounds simple but we only ever make wines we want to drink, wines we want on our table, and wines that match our passion for provenance and purpose. Mainstream wines are a homogenous blur of banality because they’ve lost sight of the three things that separate wine from any other drink. Great wines should reflect the personality of the region it’s from, the personality of the vintage in which it was made, and the personality of the winemaker who made it. And that’s exactly what we do at Paso-Primero.
It’s been a lot. A huge collaborative effort and a complete shift from what our region (Somontano) has become known for. But, together with our parent winery, we never lost sight of what we were trying to do in the first place; make wines we believe in.
It sounds simple but we only ever make wines we want to drink, wines we want on our table, and wines that match our passion for provenance and purpose. Mainstream wines are a homogenous blur of banality because they’ve lost sight of the three things that separate wine from any other drink. Great wines should reflect the personality of the region it’s from, the personality of the vintage in which it was made, and the personality of the winemaker who made it. And that’s exactly what we do at Paso-Primero.
I’m really excited to see my wines on Brewser. I love their ethos and approach to beer and see more similarities here than I do in most wine businesses. I hope you try the wines and enjoy them as much as you enjoy the beers. Cheers, Tom
Paso-Primero Blanco – The ‘starter’ wine. So called because it’s the perfect first drink of the day. Bright, vibrant, aromatic, and with a zip of acidity.
Alcohol - 13%
Blend – Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Alcanon.
Paso-Primero Rosado – The most uncompromising rose you’ll ever see. Big, bold, and bags of fun. This wine looks like one of those nasty sweet wines from the bottom shelves of the supermarket, but this is no confected monster. This is dry, full of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries, and has superb weight and texture making this a phenomenal food wine. Ideal with its natural pairing - a bag of bacon frazzles.
Alcohol – 12.5%
Blend – Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo.
Paso-Primero Tinto – The wine that started it all. My perfect red. The ideal sofa sipper, the box set partner, or the celebration glass when the kids are finally in bed. Bramble fruit and dark cherries with an almost black forest gateaux profile and a soft supple finish. Super easy drinking.
Alcohol – 13%
Blend – Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Garnacha, Syrah, Tempranillo, Moristel, Parraleta.
Cheers,
Tom (Winemaker)
Paso-Primero Blanco – The ‘starter’ wine. So called because it’s the perfect first drink of the day. Bright, vibrant, aromatic, and with a zip of acidity.
Alcohol - 13%
Blend – Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Alcanon.
Paso-Primero Rosado – The most uncompromising rose you’ll ever see. Big, bold, and bags of fun. This wine looks like one of those nasty sweet wines from the bottom shelves of the supermarket, but this is no confected monster. This is dry, full of cherries, strawberries, and raspberries, and has superb weight and texture making this a phenomenal food wine. Ideal with its natural pairing - a bag of bacon frazzles.
Alcohol – 12.5%
Blend – Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo.
Paso-Primero Tinto – The wine that started it all. My perfect red. The ideal sofa sipper, the box set partner, or the celebration glass when the kids are finally in bed. Bramble fruit and dark cherries with an almost black forest gateaux profile and a soft supple finish. Super easy drinking.
Alcohol – 13%
Blend – Merlot, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Garnacha, Syrah, Tempranillo, Moristel, Parraleta.
Cheers,
Tom (Winemaker)