Agrícola La Portera 'Tardano' Garnacha

"Garnacha is all the rage, and this wine represents our commitment to bring the essence of this worldclass variety, whose origin lies in the Ebro Valley, more precisely in Aragón. A delightful wine, crafted and nurtured mostly in concrete, without any make-up, Tardano is a naked expression of this grape and its place."

The grapes for this 100% Garnacha are sourced from two different parcels located in the village of Almonacid de la Sierra (D.O. Cariñena) growing on mainly clay and limestone soils in what is classified as a continental climate. Limestone establishes the structure, backbone and acidity, while clay lends the elegant expression of fruit. The vines themselves were planted in 1983, at at altitude 650m (2100 feet) above sea level.

Sustainable viticulture is utilized: the vines are dry-farmed and head-pruned. Grapes are harvested by hand using 15 Kg. boxes. Spontaneous fermentation using natural yeast in 1500-liter stainless steel vats, manual pigeage, no remontage and a very soft extraction. 90% of the wine ages for 12 months in a traditional underground concrete vat, whereas 10% of it ages in a 500 liter French oak vats.

Tardano comes from the Spanish word 'tardío', or belated. Jorge, Javier and Francisco had hoped to release their Garnacha from Cariñena in 2020, but due to the COVID pandemic, had to postpone the release to 2022.