Spain’s Roots Run Deep with Garnacha
100+ year-old Garnacha vines at Viña Zorzal.
Garnacha—known elsewhere, of course, as Grenache—is one of the world’s most widely planted varieties, but its ancestral home is in Spain. Most ampelographers now trace Garnacha to northeastern Spain, in the area around Aragón, where it has been planted since the Middle Ages. From Spain it moved to southern France (the Roussillon and Rhône Valley), then to Sardinia (where it’s called Cannonau), and later to the New World.
As a variety, it is naturally drought tolerant and thrives in hot, dry climates, where it can produce generous, fruit-forward wines. After a period of overproduction, however, old-vine Garnacha has gained renewed attention for its innate transparency. Unlike many other varieties, it can reflect terroir to an incredible degree, especially when handled gently in the winery. Producing everything from delicate, almost ethereal wines to intensely concentrated and juicy styles, Garnacha is a true chameleon. This, in my opinion, makes it a fascinating variety to explore. And with the world’s highest concentration of old vines, Spain is the country to turn to in order to understand this historic grape.
2024 Viña Zorzal Garnacha Navarra $15.99 93DC 92WA Brothers Xabi, Iñaki, and Mikel Sanz created Viña Zorzal in 2007. Their family winery, Bodegas Correlana, had been run by their grandfather and father, and it had become a reference point for Navarra wines. This Garnacha is one of their entry level wines yet is sourced from super old bush vines, leading to an incredibly joyful and bright expression of unoaked Garnacha–perfect for weeknights and casual get togethers.
2019 Señorio de Sarría "Viñedo Uno" Garnacha Crianza Navarra $23.99 93JS Also from Navarra, this is a completely different expression of old-vine Garnacha. It is harvested slightly later and matured for 12 months in American oak. The result is an intense, sturdy expression of Garnacha, balancing plush, ripe red fruit notes with savory dried herbs and leather. Quite simply, this is a well-priced alternative to neighboring Rioja–a lot of wine for a modest price!
2024 Bodegas Frontonio "Microcosmico" Garnacha Valdejalon $21.99 93WA From one of the most up-and-coming winemakers in Spain, Bodegas Frontonio is owned by Fernando Mora MW. A man obsessed with old-vine Garnacha, he even wrote his MW thesis on the potential of classifying vineyards in Aragon. While this isn’t allowed yet, he labels his wines as V1, V2 or V3, indicating their place on his terroir hierarchy. This is a V1–or regional–Garnacha, with juicy, bright, fruit-forward aromatics.
2021 Bodegas Frontonio "Telescopico" Garnacha Valdejalon $27.99 94WA A V2-level wine according to Fernando Mora, this wine is a step up in intensity and concentration from the Microcosmico. A field blend of mostly Garnacha along with Garnacha Peluda and Mazuelo (Carignan), the wine ferments in concrete then ages in large format, neutral casks to preserve the primary red fruit and floral notes.
2023 Comando G "La Bruja de Rozas" Sierra de Gredos $42.99 95WA 93JS What Fernando Mora is to Aragon, Fernando García and Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi are to the Sierra de Gredos region south of Madrid. These two friends have one goal: to rediscover the high-elevation terroir and old vines of the Sierra de Gredos mountain range. La Bruja is one of their entry level Garnachas. It is delicate, floral, and spicy, reflecting the rugged terrain.
Gorgeous Priorat.
2019 Terroir al Limit Terroir Históric Negre Priorat $34.99 93JS 92WA In recent years, Priorat has been having a renaissance. After decades of high alcohol, high extraction and inclusion of international varieties, many wineries are returning to the more traditional Garnacha and Cariñena (Carignan) of the region. The fruit here is sourced from small, family-owned, organically farmed old vine parcels, and the wine is aged in concrete to avoid any overt influence from oak. Medium-bodied, fresh and juciy, this is a wine to try to rediscover Priorat.
2021 Mas d'en Gil "Bellmunt" Priorat $34.99 93WA Also matured in concrete, as well as large, neutral oak barrels, this is another “classic” style of Priorat, before the days of internationally styled wines. So savory and elegant, the black licorice spice of the Garnacha is held together with a small amount of Cariñena to add stricture and freshness.
2023 Rafael Cambra "Soplo" Garnacha Valencia $14.99 Rafael Cambra is a leading figure in the "new wave" of Valencian winemaking, known for his dedication to the preservation of rare indigenous grape varieties and working with a gentle hand in the winery. The “Soplo” Garnacha, made from 80% Garnacha, blended together with Monastrell and the rare Forcallà variety, is a vibrant, pure expression of this rugged Mediterranean region, balancing brooding bramble fruit notes with spicy, herbaceous undertones of wild fennel and dried oregano.