The native red varieties that have shone the most this year have been the classic Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cariñena, with which magnificent red wines have been made.
The least known, but equally notable for producing authentic wines, have been Brujidera, Sumoll, Escursac and Trepat. This last variety has produced Glatim 2022 (DO Conca de Barberà), 100% trepat vines, which has been awarded the Newcomer of the Year Award.
The set of selected wines are collected, along with many more, in The Wine Guide 2024, directed by Lluís Tolosa with the collaboration of Ferran Centelles, Meritxell Falgueras, María José Huertas, Alicia Estrada and Zoltan Nagy.
Perhaps the wine I liked the most this year! The one I would most like to drink as long as there are bottles available. A project that is truly born from the heart, so that it reaches directly to yours. The architect Alfredo Arribas seeks the symbiosis between architecture and nature, integrating the vineyards and the winery with terraces, stone walls and a careful design that highlights the beauty of the landscape to bring it to the glass. He pampers his vines that are around 50 years old, with organic work and biodynamic practices.
In his wine you can see the difficulty of simplicity. Alfredo Arribas understands that architecture influences winemaking. He designs spaces that optimize the production process, ensuring ideal conditions of light, temperature and humidity.
Knowing him, after speaking with him several times, I know that texture and color are basic aspects in the sensory experience of wine. Although he makes wines with DOQ Priorat and DO Montsant, his Tabla Rassa collection seeks to start from scratch, from a blank slate, disregarding established canons and standards. They are wines faithful to the authenticity of the terroir, without benefiting from any designation of origin. This Garnacha from Priorat is elegant and complex, with notes of red fruits and spices after 20 months of aging in different ceramic and porcelain formats. I remember a phrase of his that for me is the essence of this wine: “making this wine was looking back, walking forward.” When you are faced with projects with soul, you get excited and you know that a new path is opening up.
Author: Zoltan Nagy
“But tell me, sir, for the century of what you love most, is this wine from Ciudad Real? Bravo, turd!” A mojón was a person learned and knowledgeable about wine in Cervantes times, and this is how Don Quixote described the tasting qualities of Sancho Panza, capable of blindly guessing the origin of a La Mancha wine.
In 1605, when this work was published, Castilian-Manchego wine was known and reputed. Later, unfortunately, a productivist mentality placed these wines at the bottom of quality.
Luckily, the clock of time turns inflexibly and today marks a new era with cases like that of Jesús Toledo and Julián Ajeno, two cousins ??who in 2015 started a tiny project, in quantity, barely 18,000 bottles, but great in quality and philosophy. Your name:
Thanks to the Vine and Wine Research Center of Castilla-La Mancha (IVICAM) and projects such as
Author: Ferran Centelles
“Details make perfection, and perfection is not a detail,” said Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The finesse of this single-varietal Tempranillo comes from the clone of the García Figuero family’s vines, from pre-phylloxera strains of the French religious who arrived in La Horra at the beginning of the 20th century, and from the rest of the details of its careful production.
Local wine, fruit of the selection of plots in the Zaloño area, planted between 1942 and 1965, with the delicacy of manual harvesting in 12 kg chestnut baskets, exhaustive selection of clusters in the vineyard and meticulous and immediate transport to the store. The production is equally careful, with vatting in gravity tanks, OVI system, after destemming, cold film maceration and spontaneous alcoholic fermentation.
It impresses in the glass with its high layer, its exquisite intense cherry color and the presence of its dense tears. Black fruit, blackberries, spicy nuances, pink and black pepper, coriander seed and cigar box. It surprises with the complexity of its touches of licorice, nutmeg, fine leather and balsamic notes.
Magnificent mouthfeel, dense, broad and velvety, with refined acidity. Very ripe tannins, candied fruit assembled with distinction after 15 months in 225 and 500 liter French oak barrels. It is recommended to decant it to show all its expressiveness. Aging capacity of more than fifteen years, thanks to the power of its vintage and the perfectionism in the details in the vineyard and cellar.
Author: Meritxell Falgueras
MontRubí is the great reference in the recovery of the sumoll variety, the most cultivated red wine in Penedès before and after phylloxera. It is a variety with a long tradition in Catalonia, already highlighted in the first list of varieties by Manuel Barba i Roca (1787).
Its cultivation declined from the 1950s onwards, with the success of white varieties for the production of cava and the progressive planting of French varieties. In the 2000s, MontRubí led its recovery as a native and quality variety, challenging its reputation for low chromatic intensity and dubious evolution and oenological projection.
The name Gaintus is inspired by a climbing route, along with the verticality of its label, due to the great challenge of creating a 100% sumoll single-varietal. I have been trying it in different vintages and without hesitation I included it in my Guide to the 100 best wines of Catalonia, placing it among the 12 best wines from Penedès.
It comes from vines planted in 1955 on gray slate soils. Designed to express the authenticity of the Sumoll variety, which is why it does not pass through wood. The delicate varietal notes and natural freshness are achieved after 12 months in 700-liter concrete eggs, which give it fruitiness, elegance and balance. Then it is patiently refined, for a minimum of 48 months in the bottle. It is recommended to decant it before serving.
Lots of red fruit, fresh, ripe cherries, toasted notes, cedar and Mediterranean herbs, with a clear mineral background and its characteristic acidity, which gives it tension, freshness and longevity. It will improve a lot in the bottle.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
I have written many times about the wines of Ca N’Estruc and its historic estate located at the foot of the Montserrat mountain, documented since 1548, which can qualify for a DO thanks to the DO Catalunya, since in Esparreguera (Barcelona ) there is no other. But I didn’t know that Ca N’Estruc is also the first winery registered in the DO Catalunya, since 1999.
I also didn’t know Siscu Martí’s personal history. In the eighties, he proposed to his father to change the method of making his wines, complementary to his other agricultural and livestock activities. But he had to show him the improvements, so they made half of the grapes using the traditional family system and the other half following the guidelines of a trusted winemaker.
Seeing the real improvement in quality, his father delegated the management of the farm and winery to him. Since then he has dedicated himself exclusively to vineyards and wine. The other turning point was in 2014, when her eldest daughter, Anna Martí, joined, orienting herself towards organic and biodynamic cultivation, unique and artisanal preparations, without filtering or clarifying, without sulfites or other additives. She had always tasted L’ Equilibrista Blanco and L’ Equilibrista Tinto, but she did not know L’ Equilibrista Garnatxa. She seemed to me the best of the three. Single-varietal 100% Grenache aged for 14 months in truncated conical French oak tanks. A concentrated, juicy and fleshy Grenache. Pure red fruit, jam of blackberries, raspberries, currants, with more subtle floral notes than in other Grenaches, and more powerful notes of Mediterranean herbs.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
Pure concentration, due to four factors that give a very different style from the Ribera del Duero. Firstly, it shows the extreme nature of the altitude on the Castilian plateau. It comes from two vineyards located at 910 meters above sea level, a height that is totally unthinkable for both Mediterranean wines and Spanish Atlantic wines.
The second concentration factor, which is added to the previous one, is that it expresses all the hardness of extremely poor soils, especially stony and clayey, with low organic matter content. The combination of the two factors lengthens the vegetative cycle of the vineyard, gives later harvests and slows down and concentrates ripening.
The third concentration factor is the vintage. The two previous factors are beneficial in warm vintages, and the 2019 harvest was marked by warmth and scarcity of water, which gave a scarce harvest, but with great power and concentration.
This is the fifth vintage of their Pueblo Wines collection, expressive of those two vineyards in Gumiel de Mercado (Burgos). In this case, deeply varietal, 100% Tinto Fino (or Tempranillo), with a fourth concentration factor, which not only ferments with native yeasts, but they also wanted to bottle it raw, without clarifying and without filtering. Only 3,846 numbered bottles of this powerful vintage, considered one of the great aging vintages of Ribera del Duero. It must be aerated, even decanted. In good conservation conditions, good evolution in the bottle for the next 15-20 years.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
Almost always when we choose Borsao wines it is because of their excellent quality-price ratio, that is indisputable, I have been highlighting them in all my wine books for three decades. Robert Parker already said it in his day, that Borsao was his “favorite winery, not only in Spain, but in the world, for its great value for money.”
Borsao is also unsurpassed at making Garnachas. The Campo de Borja DO is the Empire of Grenache and Borsao is undoubtedly the great protagonist. They have 2,100 hectares of vineyards, 36% of the total, with 54% of the vineyard dedicated to Grenache. They are the great specialists in Garnacha and their Tres Picos is one of our great favorite wines. Less known for his work with syrah for two decades.
The first vines were planted in 2002 at the foot of Moncayo (2,314 m), at 350-600 meters of altitude, where the syrah matures well thanks to the great sunshine, maintains freshness thanks to the limestone soils and benefits from the Cerro, the northwest wind that blows in this area more than 200 days a year. The Syrah complements many of its Grenaches, but shows great personality on its own. The result is spectacular.
A dark, sweet, intense and concentrated syrah. More Australian than Mediterranean in style, since at the time they had an Australian advisor. Hence the name, Zarihs, from shiraz, with the Anglo-Saxon terminology, but backwards. Best Syrah from Spain in the Vivino application. Included in the Top 100 in the world by the prestigious Wine Spectator magazine. Rightly placed in the Top 10 of the Syrah du Monde competition in France.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
This wine is a tribute to a popular Falset legend that was told to children about the character of Maria Ganxa, more or less the local version of the bogeyman.
A wine interpreted with old Carignan vines, defined in a clayey terroir. Clarifies the history of Celler Pascona, explaining the past, present and future of terroir wines. It expresses the coexistence in the estate of clays, mainly, which announce its fruitiness, with granite, which reveals purity and depth, and llicorella that justifies its wildest character.
This single-varietal Cariñena reflects, with its maceration and fermentation in 5,000-liter tanks and its pigeage for 5-8 days, the coming trend. Wines with great drinkability, that is, with the ability to be drunk, enjoyed, served fresh, without abuse of skin maceration or wood.
One of those wines that is easy to open another bottle. It has already won the Premi Vinari 2020 for the best young red wine from Catalonia. And every year they do it better. Its statement of intentions can be seen at first glance: violet trim, medium-low layer, clear and bright. It illustrates a reductive aging with fine lees in stainless steel tanks for 3 months, which does not mask the main character: the varietal. Aromas of freshness, wild red fruits, roses and the counterpoint of spices and Provençal herbs.
Because the best wine is not the one that shows strength, but the one that helps to be the common thread in a meal, the one that makes thoughts manifest better and provokes the most delicious conversation.
Author: Meritxell Falgueras
It is wonderful to visit this winery, its vineyards and its surroundings, and above all to be seduced by the enthusiasm that Tomeu Llabrés puts into his explanations of the terroir, the varieties, the soils and his wines. These grape varieties are gems that we are less familiar with and captivate us when we discover them.
It is a very small plot in the heart of Binissalem, on the Sa Fiola estate. The soil is very ferrous and hence its reddish color, where they grow a native and recovered red variety such as escursac. All of these are key ingredients in this precious and particular red wine. Viticulture is of maximum respect for the environment and works with minimal intervention. In the production of this red wine, part of the grapes are placed whole in stainless steel tanks and kept on the lees for a period of approximately 4 months.
The Escursac variety is an elegant variety, light in body, fragrant, with good acidity and surprising. In this Balearic red wine he has managed to show his essence. The wine is an intense garnet color, bright and attractive to the eye. On the nose we appreciate an infinite number of nuances, with a predominance of red fruit, such as strawberry and fresh raspberry. Other fruits such as cherries or currants also appear. In its juicy mouthfeel it expresses herbaceous, floral, mineral and a little balsamic. Throughout the entire journey, it also enjoys vibrant acidity and very notable fruit. Leave the herbal and stone notes for last.
Author: María José Huertas
Made by the young couple of Guillem Chumilla and Carol Murtra, in collaboration with the winemaker Òscar Navas, known for his La Furtiva wines in the Terra Alta DO. In their first vintage they have created two wines, a single-varietal white Macabeu and this minimal intervention red wine made with Garnacha Negra and Garnacha Peluda.
Guillem and Carol are located in Batea, in the Terra Alta region, where they have 6 hectares of vineyards, olive trees and oak forests. In addition to vineyard cultivation, they also have an interesting organic truffle cultivation project. The basis of their wines is respect for old vines, some 70 years old, which they grow ecologically and sustainably. They are old dryland vines, with selective manual harvesting, so productions are very low, giving small clusters with a high concentration of aromas and flavors.
In its minimal intervention production, the clusters are destemmed, but without crushing the grapes. It ferments spontaneously with native yeasts in a stainless steel tank. Without any passage through wood, to give prominence to the fruit expression and better understand the possibilities of these two Garnachas, seeking to show the virtues of the Peluda Garnacha. The result is a smooth red, fresh and light, but with good depth. Red berries predominate, wrapped in floral and spicy notes. The fruity expression is balanced very well with the freshness of its acidity, which gives it tension, and its round finish, with very fine tannins. A promising new project, to follow up.
Author: Lluís Tolosa
Revelation of the Year Award. The great novelty of the Sarral Wine Cooperative and the young wine that has surprised us the most this year. Of course, 100% trepat monovarietal, since they are the largest producers of trepat in the world. As they themselves say, this wine is the “fruit of the perseverance of those who work the two selected vineyards and the work of the winery’s winemaking team.”
Hence its name, from the verb glatir (nosaltres glatim), to have a desire to drink or eat something that is in front of one. When you have 1,150 hectares of vineyards you can choose some unique vines to make unique wines. This is a trepat with a new and different profile compared to the trepats they have been making, and the vineyard has a lot to do with it. The vineyards of the municipality of Sarral are among the highest in Catalonia, between 350 and 700 meters of altitude. For this wine they have selected two very old vines, Urní, 65 years old, and Prat de Meda, 80 years old, harvested by hand well into autumn, on October 7, when they achieve good ripening.
It is made with minimal intervention and long macerations. Only 20% of the wine is aged briefly for 4 months in 300-liter French oak barrels, the rest is kept in stainless steel to maintain freshness and fruitiness. Then they blend the two wines, looking for a young wine profile, currant-colored with purple tones. Body, color and light graduation, three typical features of the variety. Wild fruits, violets, Mediterranean herbs and spices, with a fresh and juicy finish. Organic farming certification (CCPAE).
Author: Lluís Tolosa
