Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with white and red meats roasted or grilled, big game, meat casseroles and stews, complex sauces, foie gras and legumes or blue and cured cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Evodia comes from a cold year with snow, frost and some extreme temperatures (-18 degrees Celsius!) but an average rest of the season, some hail in July(!) and quite a lot of rain in early October, so not a year without challenges. They estimate a 25% decrease in yields, but the grapes picked before the rain delivered fresh wines with good aging potential. This finished at 14.6% alcohol and with good freshness and acidity. It fermented with some 15% full clusters in concrete, and 60% of the volume remained in concrete while the rest was equal parts in used 225-liter barrels and large oak vats for five months. It was a very challenging year, but the result feels great, a cooler and fresher vintage than 2020 and 2022. It's a fragrant Garnacha, a fruit-driven and juicy effort with super fine tannins and a balanced mouthfeel. Volume has gone down and price has gone up a bit, but the quality has also grown and it's still a great bargain.
Rating:91+
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.