2020 Garnacha Blanca

Full bottle 1,303 g. Practising organic and biodynamic. Vegan friendly. Fermentation in new French oak barrels and where it’s aged for five months with bâtonnage. Only 800 bottles made in 2020 because the vineyards were hit by frost. Grenache Blanc from several of their vineyards, some of which are over a hundred years old, and the younger vineyards are planted with grafts taken from the oldest vines. Gorgeous nose that starts stony and clenched and then flares wide into apricots on toast, butterscotch and the first flare of smoke curling a golden tobacco leaf. The palate is the same, starting with stream-shiny dark pebbles, the tang of lime, a slip of vanilla sweetness wrapped in a soft, new bay leaf. The oak seems to build a fine three-dimensional lace network through the wine but the fruit fills the spaces. Taut, ripe, dried peach skin and peach-skin texture, saffron and cedar. There’s a tiny wildflower top note towards the end. Stunning wine, mesmerising complexity. It leaves my spine tingling in its wake. (TC)