Winemaker Notes
"...Satisfyingly mouthfilling wine, finishing with very good length and substantial ripe tannins..."
International Wine Cellar
Nowadays, Capcanes has 250 hectares of vineyards of which about half is devoted to Garnacha; Carinena accounts for 20%, and the balance is made up of Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. The vineyards range in altitude from 150 meters at the bottom of the valley to nearly 550 meters fro the highest terraces where the oldest Garnacha vines grow. Soil in the lower vineyards is deep and rich and fertile, while the higher vineyards are on minerally soil on top of a granite or slate base.
The difference in altitude, terroir, and the wide varieties of grapes means that harvesting the fruit can last a full two months. Each vineyard is harvested separately at its precise moment of optimum ripeness and each parcel is vinified separately, as well.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.