Frontonio Microcósmico Garnacha 2022

Frontonio Microcósmico Garnacha is named after Saint Frontonio, patron saint of the north-eastern Spanish town of Epila where it is produced. Legend says that after Saint Frontonio was beheaded by the Romans, his body was buried in a cemetery and his head cast into the River Ebro. Miraculously his head was found upstream on the bank of the River Jalon, close to where the Bodegas Frontonio winery is located. Going against the grain, in much the same way as Sant Frontonio's head floated upstream, Frontonio Microcósmico Garnacha eschews the prevailing current tendency for over-extracted wines and, instead, displays the fresher side to the Grenache variety. Every sip delights with the expressiveness of wild fruit flowing over the cracked grey slate of its vineyards in the cool climate found at altitudes of 700 metres. The fruit is fermented with 10% of whole bunches in the mix and matured mainly in concrete vats, with just a small amount of wine being aged in 500-litre wooden barrels. The result is a precise, floral, fragrant and elegant red wine, proudly and openly displaying the honest character of Grenache. Fine tannins cover a subtly lactic background. Aromas of forest floor and wild red fruits blend with a pinch of white pepper to give it a stylish austerity and irresistible rusticity. The lively energy of its soil is enjoyed in every sip and lingers until the wine's aftertaste, when wild aromas and the delicacy of Grenache skins return. Thanks to the decision of the Master of Wine (one of the top international distinctions awarded in the wine world) Fernando Mora and his friends and partners to work in the historic but, at that time, largely-forgotten winemaking area of Valdejalón, we can now take delight in splendid wines such as this Frontonio Microcósmico Garnacha.