Winemaker Notes
This bottling of 100% Garnacha de Aragón comes from old mountain vineyards within the south of Calatayud such as: El Plano, Barranco de la Rambla, Cerro Verde, Cerro del Cura, La Laguna, and more. The vines were planted between 1945 and 1985, and are traditionally dry-farmed on beds of Cambrian-Silurian slate and quartz. The grapes are cultivated by hand and after harvested are stored in small boxes. Spontaneous fermentation occurs in stainless steel and concrete tanks. The wine is then briefly aged in a combination of stainless steel and concrete tanks.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Garnacha de Fuego is from Sierra de Pardos and Sierra de Peña Blanca, Aragón. It is ripe, with sour cherry, a faint sanguine note, floral tones, vermouth hints and gentle field herbs over soft jam. Concentrated, with lightly robust tannins, this has balanced acidity and red-fruited persistence.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Grown at high elevation, the 2023 Garnacha De Fuego is aged in stainless and concrete tank to soften the tannins, from head-trained, dry-farmed vines planted decades ago. There’s a spiciness to the front of the palate that evolves into a creamy center of strawberry, blood orange, and wet rock-like texture, buoyed by ample freshness from the tart acidity. Full-bodied, it has considerable concentration and power.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Calatayud DO is a wine region tucked into northern Spain’s regions just south of Rioja, about 55 miles (90km) from the provincial capital, Zaragoza. When Calatayud attained DO status in the 90s, it rapidly became Aragon’s second largest quality wine-producing region after its neighbor, Cariñena. Since then, it has focused on upgrading and perfecting its wines with progressive improvements in both cooperatives and private bodegas. Similarly, there has been substantial investment in new technology, winemaking system, and vineyard research. Thanks to this, Calatayud wines are now beginning to show their true potential.
The principle red grape varieties grown are Garnacha Tinta, Tempranillo, Syrah, Bobal, Monastrell.
Many of the new wineries are exploring the potential of the Garnacha grape. A new category of red wines called Calatayud Superior is made from red Garnacha from low yield vines that are at least 50 years old.
The principal white grape varieties in Calatayud are Macabeo, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía and Chardonnay.