Cien Y Pico Doble Pasta Garnacha / Tintorera

Cien Y Pico was created by four winemakers (Australian Zar Brooks, his Bulgarian wife Elena Golakova Brooks, Spaniard Luis Jimenez Garci­a and Italian Nicola Tucci), when they came across, and were amazed that people were grubbing up, old Garnacha Tintorera vines in Manchuela in south-eastern Spain. The name means "hundred and something" and refers to the age of the ancient vines from which the wines are made. The old, low-yielding, bush-trained vines give vibrant colour, fruit concentration and flavour to the wines, while the excellence of the winemaking ensures that the natural power of the vines, traditionally used to produce blending wines, is sculpted into something nicely rounded, balanced and ideal for drinking now.

Cien Y Pico's four vineyards are all located on the Meseta (or "plateau") of Castilla-La Mancha. With only 300 millimetres of rain per year, the plateau is extremely dry, though the deep-rooted, gnarled old vines thrive in the low-vigour, limestone-rich soils. The mountains surrounding the Meseta offer protection from the icy winters while, in summer, the intense sun at this altitude of nearly 1,000 metres warms and ripens the grapes to perfection.

Garnacha Tintorera,

This vineyard is located in Mahora, a tiny village next to Albacete, between Madrid and Alicante on the coast. It is located on a wide, dry plateau 1000 metres above sea level, surrounded by mountains that offer protection from the icy cold winters. The soil here is composed of limestone rich, red, sandy Miocene era sedimentary clay and the yield is 3.3 tonnes per hectare.

The ancient, free standing bush vines were grown on their own roots with just 300mm of rain a year, yielding tiny but intense crops of deeply coloured Garnacha Tintorera. 'Doble Pasta' is a method of winemaking where crushed grapes were fermented over additional grape skins to create a dark, concentrated wine. They were then vinified traditionally with some new French oak.

Deep purple in colour with violet tints, this wine has intense aromas of blueberries, damsons and cherries. The palate is intense and flavourful, supported by tannins that are firm but go almost unnoticed given their ripeness and integration. The powerful fruit character reverberates on the finish.

Great with sausage casserole, spicy bean burgers and BBQ.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight on Spanish Garnacha

This is our second Garnacha mutation, Garnacha Tintorera, also known in France and Portugal as Alicante Bouchet. This grape is a crossing of Petit Bouschet and Grenache Noir that was introduced in 1855 so is very well established. The key difference between classic Garnacha Negra and Garnacha Tintorera is the colour of the fruits flesh. Almost all red grapes used for wine production have clear flesh, whereas Garnacha Tintorera is one of the very few quality wine grapes with red flesh, the only other example is Georgia’s Saperavi varietal. The combination of the red skins and red flesh creates an inky, opaque juice with more concentrated flavours.

Cien y Pico, meaning “Hundred and Something”, is based in the baked, arid planes of Manchuela, to the West of Valencia. Here they are producing some exceptional old vine wines. In fact, the name, Cien y Pico, is a direct reference the age of the ancient vines these wines are made from.

A truly international team of winemakers are behind Cien y Pico; Australian Zar Brooks, his Bulgarian wife Elena Golakova Brooks (winemaker and owner of Dandelion Vineyards in Australia), Spaniard Luis Jimenez Garci­a and Italian Nicola Tucci. The project started as an attempt to save the incredible resource of old vines in places like Manchuela that were being grubbed up in vine pull schemes. The four vineyards Cien y Pico source from are all located on the Meseta (or "plateau") of Castilla-La Mancha. With only a pitiful 300 millimetres of rain per year, meaning that even these gnarly old vines need to work hard to get enough water!

Measly small yields of intensely flavoured, deeply coloured Garnacha Tintorera must be handpicked and then in this case, the grapes are vinified in the 'Doble Pasta' method where crushed grapes are fermented over additional grape skins to create a dark, concentrated wine. Intense aromas of blueberries, damsons and cherries are the result. This wine is fantastic for veggies, try with bean stews/burgers or with sweet potato dishes.