SINTAUTO

VINTAGE

2018

VARIETY

Graciano 100%

Climatic year

This year was an atypical year in Alfaro. It was characterized by a rainfall 100 mm above average. These rains were concentrated in the spring and winter months, which caused a very good canopy of the plants (which helped the synthesis of aromas in the grapes). A marked dry season gave us excellent plant health. Regarding temperatures, it was a typical year for thearea; but with excellent temperatures during the ripening season, since during the day the temperatures were high but at night the temperatures were very cool; helping to an excellent ripeness of the grapes.

VINEYARD

The grapes come from our “Los Olivos” vineyard on the lower section of the slopes of Yerga, in the municipality of Alfaro. The vines were planted in 1995 and are arranged in trellises.

PREPARATION

This is a wine that undergoes no treatment and may leave a little sediment at the bottom of the bottle as a consequence of its natural development.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS

Consume at a temperature of 14-16ºC. Allow the wine to breathe first, so it can express its full potential.

PAIRING

Low fat fish, Iberian pork meat, game (deer, wild boar), casseroles and stews.

TASTING NOTES

COLOUR

Semi-intense deep cherry red.

AROMA

High aromatic intensity, very complex. This wine evolves continuously in the glass, having at first notes of concentrated dark fruits, such as cherries or plums, and a suggestion of India ink. This is pulled together into a harmony through the toasted and vanilla notes of barrel ageing. The more time it spends in the glass, the more spicy white pepper and licorice overtones make their presence felt.

ON THE PALATE

Balanced and rounded. It is a structured and very tasty wine that carries suggestions of candied fruit and liqueur. It is long through the mouth and the aftertaste persistent.

ACCOLADES

2018 VINTAGE

· 90 points Peñín Guide

2017 VINTAGE

· 91 points Peñín Guide

HISTORY

Sintauto

This story recounts the planting of our Los Olivos plot, grafted in 1995 by Amador Escudero Carra. This plot is the source of our Sintauto wine.

When I joined the family business, after my education, the GRACIANO variety was very popular in La Rioja. The C.I.D.A. (La Rioja Centre for Agri-foods Research and Technological Development) took care of the cloning selection and health of the variety. Although much appreciated by wineries, it was barely grown, save for a few areas in La Rioja Alavesa, and the results were not especially encouraging for the farmer: it produced very little and did not ripen most years.

When the results of the selection began to prove conclusive, the government of La Rioja, through the C.I.D.A., began to disseminate the benefits of this variety and the good results obtained with the six selected clones.

In turn, the La Rioja government put out a tender for the distribution of new plantations, giving priority to those farmers who would grow Graciano grapes. As a young farmer with my own winery, the charm of this variety piqued my interest, aiming to break up the Tempranillo mono-culture as I was then. I managed to convince my uncle and we submitted an application to plant four hectares of Graciano.

At that time, I bumped into Teodoro Vicente Renedo (research fellow at the C.I.D.A.) at outreach sessions quite often and we became good friends. He was aware I was young in the business, but that I was interested in this grape. So, he proposed using one of the plots for a comparative trial of Graciano clones in Rioja Baja alongside the Garnacha clones of the selection they were developing.

My uncle’s plot was chosen due to the homogeneity of the soil and the length of the rows, so there we did it. I told him that he needed buds to graft the entire surface, because the plantation needed to be done with cuttings because Graciano graft plants remained scarce as the C.I.D.A. was in the phase of distributing buds to the nurserymen for propagation. He told me it was complicated, but he would find a solution.

A few days later, Teodoro calls me and tells me that he has a canning friend in Mendavia who had planted a plot of Graciano with buds that he had given him, and that by the time I needed the buds (spring graft) there would be enough wood.

The three of us met one morning at the farm. I asked him if I could take some shoots to graft and he was fine with it. “You need to give the young a hand”, he said.

The plot was on a hillside close to the road and I monitored its development throughout the cycle.

On Christmas Eve I was heading along the road and I saw that the vineyard had been pruned, but he had not told me. It was in my interest to collect wood as soon as I could.

While we were having coffees after eating on Christmas Eve, I told my uncle that we should go and collect the shoots as the vineyard had already been pruned and it would not take us long to pick some sheaves between the two of us.

So we did it and to our surprise when after having the sheaves tied and ready to load, the owner of the farm appeared and he no longer knew me, nor did he remember the agreement he had made with me in front of Vicente. The sheaves had to stay there.

We returned to Alfaro, with a mixture of disbelief and anger, understanding nothing.

Once my anger had dissipated and night had fallen, I saw the light. I felt I had to finish the job. Nobody was going to use those buds and it made no sense to leave the sheaves there.

I took the van back alone and, using my torch, I retrieved the sheaves and put them safely away. Then, I went to have drinks with some friends and celebrate Christmas Eve properly!

Mind you … when my mother saw me appear dirty, after being in the country with my good clothes on, she said…