Winemaker Notes
100% Grenache aged for 12 months in used French oak.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 El Jorco achieved higher alcohol than the 2019 and 2020 I tasted next to it, reaching 15%. They did a slightly shorter maceration, down to 42 days, and a shorter élevage of 14 months in 500-liter barrels. They consider 2021 a slightly warmer year than 2020, but still the wine comes through as a little more elegant; it's pale and aromatic, perfumed, fine-boned, nicely textured, very tasty, clean, precise and focused but with clout and tannins that might benefit from a little more time in bottle. Curiously enough, there's less alcohol and the sensation of ripeness here than in the bottling from the pink granite part of the vineyard that is sold under the name Vino de Familia. This is my favorite wine of theirs from what I tasted today.
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.