El Burro 'Kickass' Garnacha 2018 (Spain)

Description

• Toasty oak
• Dark plum
• Vanilla & spices
• Long comforting finish

"It's sweetly fruited and instantly appealing on the nose showing dark plum, clove, bay leaf and toasted nut characters, leading to a gorgeously soothing palate that's filled with delicious fruit flavours. It's fleshy and supple with elegant spicy nuances, finishing long and comforting. At its best: now to 2023" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Aug 2020

"Made from old, dry grown bush vine garnacha (grenache) grown in North East Spain. Silken-textured red with dark berry, blackcurrant, violet, red-fleshed plum, liquorice, anise and five spice flavours. Terrific value at this price" Bob Campbell, The Real Review

Garnacha (Grenache) is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world. It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditions such as those found in Spain, where the grape most likely originated. Since Roman times donkeys or 'Burros' (in Spanish) have been used to work along the narrow paths between vines, which is where this wine takes its name.

Grapes for this juicy Garnacha were sourced from the calcareous clay hills of the Ayles Estate in the Carinena region of central north Spain. The continental climate is influenced by a wind the locals call "Cierzo" and vast fluctuations between daytime and night time temperatures guarantee super-intensely flavoured grapes. Harvesting took place in early October when the grapes had reached optimum ripeness. The grapes were machine harvested from 15 year-old vines. They were then de-stemmed and semi-crushed before a prefermentation maceration at low, controlled temperatures of 8-10ºC for four days. The wine was then fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. 50% of the wine spent four months in high quality oak barrels to add a vanilla smoothness and a toasty, spicy touch to the flavours.