Spanish Reds

Sometimes price and quality align so perfectly that it stops you in your tracks. We opened a bottle of this old-vine Garnacha (sourced from the clever buyers at Majestic) one weekend thinking it would be a nice enough glass with a sausagey, cassoulet type affair.

It was superb: stunning wine, lovely label (and super-interesting website as well!).

Grown at altitude in the wilds of northern Spain, it’s part of Vintae’s Proyecto Garnachas, a project showcasing Granachas/Grenaches from small, ‘lost’ vineyards in the Ebro Valley. The Ebro river, rather like the Po in Italy, forms a vast basin that defines the local geography, stretching from close to the northern coast in Cantabria down to the Med in southern Catalunya. The idea of the project is to prove that the variety has a huge amount to offer and, I would add, to counter some of the usual Garnacha stereotypes (second fiddle to Syrah and Tempranillo, consistent but rarely exciting etc etc). “La importancia de la Garnacha en el valle del Ebro es indiscutible”, so says Raúl Acha, Vintae’s oenologist and the whiz behind the wines. And on this evidence, he is right!

There are six wines in the stable, including one from famous DOQ Priorat and an extraordinary Spanish ice wine, La Garnacha de Hielo, from vineyards in Cárdenas. The latter is harvested in December at temps well below zero. Whoosh – there goes another Spanish Garnacha stereotype!

This Garnacha Salvaje (lit. ‘Wild Garnacha’) hails from Moncayo, a mountain ridge stretching from Aragon into Castile and León (sort of midway along the Ebro’s course). Released under DO Calatayud, it’s 100% Garnacha, grown on rocky, slatey soils and harvested by hand. 5 months in French oak rounds the corners impeccably to produce a powerful but lilting wine of impressive scope.