El Jardín de las Iguales Garnacha

The top red 2018 El Jardín de las Iguales Garnacha comes from a rare old vineyard, a north-facing slope with slate soils planted with Garnacha, but there's also some white grapes (Macabeo), fermented with indigenous yeasts in 1,000-liter oak vats with 100% full clusters and a long maceration of 78 days. It matured in well-seasoned, neutral oak barrels. It's pale and translucent, extremely aromatic, very floral, with an exuberant touch that made me think of the best Pinot Noir from Chile (Las Pizarras, Talinay Pai, Ocio...), crunchy and tasty, floral. It's medium-bodied, has refined tannins and a velvety texture, with elegance and length, tasty, almost salty. This is an incredibly elegant Garnacha, completely different from all their other wines. Only 584 bottles were filled in February 2020.

Pale ruby. Very savoury and light bodied with lift and a saline quality on the end. Only a hint of rose petals. Very delicate. I wonder whether I ought to be drinking this with fish rather than lamb? But it certainly has an interesting finish – salty and fruity: tamarind?