2018 Rumbo al Norte

I have followed the 2018 Rumbo Al Norte since the day the grapes were harvested, on the 17th of October, a spectacular sunny day. These were some of the most perfect grapes I've seen in my life. Rumbo al Norte is the name they have given to a plot of high-altitude and continental-climate Garnacha in the village of Villanueva de Ávila at almost 1,200 meters in altitude; it's a spectacular and impossible north-facing plot of only 0.3 hectares on sandy granite soils with abundant silt, one of the most amazing vineyards I know. The natural conditions of the place make for a slow and late ripening of the grapes that, in cooler years like 2018 and even more if the crop was a little larger, deliver full flavors coupled with freshness and elegance, austere and grainy, incredibly textured, they often describe as granite flour. Unfortunately, the price of this wine has skyrocketed in the last vintages. The fermentation followed their modus operandi, full clusters with indigenous yeasts in oak vat with a very soft extraction and a super long maceration, and this year (it's always depending on the volume) it had an élevage in a 1,000-liter oak vat for some 14 months. This is paler than previous vintages. It epitomizes the character of the place, cold austerity coupled with elegance and nuance. It's narrow and vertical, in this case More Chambolle than Vosne, with the Garnacha signature, ethereal and full of energy and light. It has gobsmacking balance and silky tannins, with great freshness and all the ingredients for a long life in bottle. Ultra fine, with the soul of Umbrías and a stony character of liquid granite and quartz, spherical but delineated. Simply stunning. 1,037 bottles and 30 magnums produced. It was bottled in March 2020.