El Puno Garnacha, El Escoces Volante

Old, concentrated, bush-vine fruit selected from 70-100 year old vines selected from the villages of Acered and Alarba in Aragon. The fruit was fermented and bottled outside of the DO Calatayud. All fruit was rigorously selected and as such, each vine yielded less than 1.5kg per vine or around two tonnes per hectare (15hl/ha). Once picked, fruit was held for a minimum of 48hrs in a cool room to chill fruit to below 4 degrees celsius. Bunches were passed over a selection belt to optimise quality and then crushed into tank and held at 8 degrees celsius to cold soak for up to 10 days. Temperature was then allowed to rise allowing a wild fermentation to commence. Tanks were then plunged gently to obtain gentle extraction. One or two tanks were also allowed an extended maceration after fermentation to add weight and complexity. 40% of wine was then aged in barrel. All old, used French barrels were used with low to medium toast so as not to dominate the wine. Similarly, a selection of larger barrel sizes (300 to 500 litre) were chosen to avoid oxidation and to respect the typicity of the Garnacha grape. The wine was then blended and allowed to marry for a further 24 months in subterranean tanks with lees stirring before bottling with only a light filtration and no fining. High altitude ancient vineyards at 1000 to 1100 metres above sea level with `pizarra` slate and quartzite soils. Completely dry grown and unirrigated, this is an inhospitable continental climate with extreme changes of temperature where only mountain herbs, almonds, olives and Garnacha form a breathtaking patchwork. Low annual rainfall of 200-300mm and the remarkable soils produce fine and elegant Garnacha which is punctuated by low pH, intense black fruit flavours with complex mineral, smoke and mountain herb notes.