Garnacha by Rosalía 2015 – Altolandon

As the lands starts to rise, inland northwest of Valencia, you will find Roselia Molina heading up Bodegas Altolandon. The property consists of 120 hectares with the winery resting right in the centre, not only making it aesthetically satisfying but also extremely practical. At 1,100 metres above sea level, the altitude serves to benefit the grapes with large diurnal variations which encourage even ripening and also helping retain their natural acidity. Organic methods are used to manage the vines utilising only natural fertilisers and some green pruning to further guarantee the quality of fruit prior to hand-harvesting. The grapes are vinified as naturally as possible with native yeasts and little other intervention. The wines are then aged in French oak and some in clay amphora to retain purity, but build complexity. A wide selection of varieties are grown here such as Bobal, Malbec, Syrah, Grenache, Merlot, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Muscat Petit Grain, Petit Manseng, Viognier and white Grenache, all selected and appropriate to the soil in which they are planted. The hand picked vineyards are at a fairly high altitude giving them the perfect conditions to produce superb quality wines. Organic methods are used to manage the vines, with natural fertilisers, leaf thinning, and green pruning just some of the ways they achieve this. The wines are produced as naturally as possible using only the first press in 6000 litre inox (stainless steel) tanks, with a spontanious alcoholic fermentation with the native yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is carried out in barrel and aged for between 8 and 24 months. The wines are stabilised naturally during the coldest months of the year. All of the red wines are aged in French oak barrels, the youngest in second use and the more complex in new oak or even clay amphora.