Frontonio La Cerqueta Special Cuvée

This was their original top red until they started producing the single-vineyard El Jardín de las Iguales, which has had different names through the years, being mostly eponymous, but in 2016, they began adding the name of the vineyard where the grape are grown. The current release is the 2018 La Cerqueta, a pure Garnacha from a 1.18-hectare dry-farmed, head-pruned, 75-year-old vineyard at 630 meters in altitude on slate-rich soils and facing southeast. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and some 60% full clusters that were foot trodden in open-top barrels and then macerated for 47 days. The wine matured in an underground cellar in an oak foudre for 14 months. This wine and Las Alas probably show the evolution in style and the search of finesse and expression of the places better than any others. It's fresh, floral and complete, a little spicy and with lots of energy, inner strength and balance with freshness. It's clean and delicious. This is very close to La Tejera, but the two vineyards have different expressions, a little more powerful here, a little more ethereal in the case of La Tejera. 3,056 bottles were filled in February 2020.

Transparent crimson. Warm, floral and welcoming on the nose. Then with masses of acidity and some rather burgundian flavours on the palate with lively texture. Pretty natural tasting. I think you'd probably be well advised to wait a little while for the youthful acidity to subside, however charming the nose is already.