ALTO DE LA ESTRELLA

GRAPE: 100 % Garnacha

APPELLATION: Cebreros DO ( Gredos)

VINIFICATION: The grapes from the 1,3 hectares of old vines surrounded by a wall were picked the first week of October and fermented with 20% full clusters in concrete vats with indigenous yeast. It matured in eight 225 liter oak barrels for at least 12 months, including malolactic.

TASTING NOTES: Red cherry light color. Wild thyme and lavender aromas dominated the wine at the beginning, and with some time at the glass the slate appears with strength. At the palate, the mountain herbs aromas persist and the elegant and dry tannin give structure and length. A serious and fresh wine.

FOOD PAIRING: Appropriate for roast beef, pork, duck, mature cheese, Salmon.

RATINGS HISTORY:

 

  • 95 Points by Robert Parker (Wine Advocate); vntg 2019
  • 93 Points by Wine Advocate ( Robert Parker); vntg 2018.

Tech Sheet:

PRODUCER:

Cebreros (Gredos) is both the name of a village and the appellation of origin in the southeast of the province of Ávila in the region Castilla y León from Spain, with 35 villages in total. Cebreros was the main wine village in the zone and hence the name chosen to name the appellation. This is a region with mountains and some high-altitude vineyards. There are perhaps between 1,800 and 2,000 hectares of vineyards. Gredos is quite unique: The isolation and lack of quality wines has made the size of the region smaller, as many old vineyards have been lost because there was no new blood to take over from the old timers.

Soto y Manrique was one of the pioneer in Gredos and also the first to point out the singularity of the slate soils in Cebreros. The wines are  intensely Mediterranean, powerful but fragrant, with elegant minerality, especially in the slate soils.