Winemaker Notes
The Pizarra vineyards are found on red metamorphic slate soils, which are unique to the village of Cebreros, folded into the mostly granitic mountain range. This slate soil makes Cebreros unlike any other village within the Sierra de Gredos region. Pizarra soil is located above 950 meters, up to 1200 meters, mainly with an eastern orientation. The wines from here have a signature expression: they are always fresh, complex, direct, and profound. Pizarra is a limited production wine produced from over 60-year-old, bush-trained Garnacha vines, yielding 15hl/ha from the vineyards of Arrebatacapas, La Redonda, La Curva, Fuente Fabian, and Presidente. The farming at Pegaso is organic, and the wines are made with low intervention and minimal sulfur at bottling.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra comes from the vines on the mid slope and has a very elegant, fragrant nose with notes of concentrated violet and a solid palate. The slate tannins give a talcum powder texture, and the wine opens up in the mid-palate, making it very expansive. In the long term, it seems like the slate gives a better palate and the granite is more nose. Given the longer cycle and slow ripeness of the grapes, the wine has contained ripeness and 14.5% alcohol and is more polished and with integrated acidity. This has the combination of the cooler year and the resilience of the slate soils, coming through as complex and elegant, powerful and concentrated but with an ethereal side to it too. Bravo!
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James Suckling
Wild cherries, strawberries and red mulberries. Quite different in texture on the palate compared with Granito. A little more linear on the palate with chalky, minerally attractive tannins. Long, fresh and drinkable.
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.