Winemaker Notes
The Alto Horizonte project is based in the village of Navatalgordo, in the province of Ávila, flanking the north and south banks of the Rio Alberche. The mountainous terrain creates one of the most unique and challenging geographies for cultivating vitis vinifera in all of Spain, which, combined with emigration from the region has resulted in a massive loss of old vineyards, and a total lack of new plantings. This is one of the coolest and highest altitude appellations for the cultivation of Garnacha in Spain. +Altitud is Aurelio Garcia's entry level village wine blending fifty sites from the town of Navatalgordo.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2021 +Altitud has the varietal character of the zone and is fresh and easy to drink, clean, juicy and tasty, with a fine thread and elegant tannins. It comes from many small plots that are worked organically (but not certified), and it fermented by zone in different materials (concrete, oak and stainless steel), all with indigenous yeasts and some 70% full clusters and with a light extraction. It matured 50% in concrete, 30% in used 500-liter barrels and the rest in stainless steel. It has a medium-bodied palate, with contained ripeness and alcohol (14.05%) and a pH of 3.39, with a long, dry and serious finish.
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James Suckling
Plenty of ripe, red fruit with baked cherries, strawberries and some white pepper. Juicy and bright on the palate with a medium body and a slightly warming finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
All Garnacha, the light ruby-hued 2021 +Altitud offers a pretty perfume of spiced red fruits, leafy herbs, rose petal, and loamy earth. It's medium-bodied and nicely balanced, with savory tannins and a Pinot Noir-like vibe and complexity.
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Wine Spectator
A creamy, balanced red, offering flavors of baked cherry, raspberry coulis and brambly herbs that show hints of baking spices and cocoa powder layered with supple tannins and juicy acidity. Drink now through 2028. 1,500 cases made, 500 cases imported.
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.