Rioja Grano a Grano - Graciano y Garnacha (19)

Graciano & Garnacha | ‘grape by grape’ met de hand ontsteeld | vergisting in staaltank | rijping voor 18 maanden in 500 liter eikenhouten vaten | gul | diep | floraal | chic | royaal | intens | mooi rijpingspotentieel 

Abel&Maite Mendoza

Een stel echt pioniers in het Rioja gebied, zijn Abel en Maite. Al 25 jaar verbouwen zij biodynamische druiven in verschillende regio’s van de Rioja, op 22 verschillende percelen. Zij hebben ervoor gekozen om alle kleine percelen apart te laten vergisten om zo een soort ‘Bourgogne systeem’ te introduceren, alleen is dit vrij lastig gebleken. In de kelder wordt er traditioneel gewerkt en levert wijnen op die altijd hoge scores krijgen. Het is niet voor niets dat ze altijd bij de 15 beste producenten van de regio zitten!

Review

The 2020 Graciano-Garnacha Grano a Grano was produced with hand-destemmed grapes (60% Garnacha and 40% Graciano) fermented in a small stainless steel tank and matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 18 months. It has 14% alcohol, a low pH of 3.37 and 5.8 grams of acidity. The oak is a little more noticeable here than in the other two Grano a Grano bottlings from this vintage, but it's also more aromatic and floral, which gave it an exuberant profile, showy and addictive; I couldn't help going back to the glass to smell it... It should calm down with some more time in bottle, as the palate reveals terrific precision and balance, very fine tannins and acidity that should make it develop nicely in bottle. 1,190 bottles were filled in May 2022. 95/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Vigneron Abel Mendoza and his wife Maite Fernández described quite well what is happening with climate: "In recent years, we've experienced very irregular and changing weather, excess heat, episodes of drought and high temperatures, a very unequal distribution of rain and untimely incidents such as hail, frost or torrential rains. They are increasingly complicated vintages to which we will have to adapt since climate change is here to stay." Enough said. 
They handcraft 80,000 bottles from their winery in San Vicente de la Sonsierra from the 25 hectares of vines, worked by hand without herbicides or pesticides, spread in 39 separate plots and averaging 38 years of age.