El Escocés Volante, 'Mataquemada,' Old Vine Garnacha, Torrijo de la Cañada, Aragón, Spain, 2022

Overview of the Wine
This old vine Garnacha field blend comes from high altitude vineyards (980m above sea level) in the remote village of Torrijo de la Cañada, Aragón. This high altitude makes for a long, slow ripening process and lignification of the stems. Dry-grown, hand harvested. Unoaked.

Winemaker
Norrel Robertson MW

Grape / Blend
90% Garnacha Tinta, Other varieties 10% (Provechon, Garnacha Blanca)

Origin
Orrijo de la Cañada, Aragón.

Winemaker's Tasting Notes

Harvest started for us on the 8th of September and we finished with the Mataquemada parcel on the 3rd of October, 2 weeks earlier than the average in the last 20 years. The wines are characterised by great energy and extremely forward fruit. A great antidote to the events of the year.

The grapes were harvested into 20kg stored between 0 and 1 degrees in a cool room with controlled humidity. Fermented in an open top fermenter with 40% of whole bunches included in a layer cake fashion. Gentle punching down was applied once or twice a only during a long, slow, soft fermentation after the grapes warm up from their cold soak. Afterwards we carried out a long maceration and malolactic fermentation took place on skins. After pressing the wine remained in two flex tank eggs for 11 months before bottling with minimal fining and filtration.

Torrijo de la Cañada was once a village that produced 3 million kg of grapes. Due to the remote nature of the village, almost all of the hillside vineyards have been lost to grubbing up in the last 70 years. The Mataquemada vineyard is situated on a base of decomposed schist/slate closer to the border with Castilla Leon than to Calatayud. It is one of only four remaining Garnacha vineyards in the municipality.

96 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2021 Vintage)
The nose of the 2021 Mataquemada is an explosion of thyme and other aromatic herbs ands spices, developing acute notes of nutmeg… It’s showy, expressive, nuanced, floral, elegant, fresh and ethereal but with lots of energy and light, a wine of power and finesse and lots of aromatic complexity. Super. 

96 Points - James Suckling (2021 Vintage)
So much tension and vibrancy to the fruit. Complex and long. Beautiful and delicious.

Product size: 750ml