El Escoces Volante El Cismatico

El Escocés Volante is a project in Aragón, the work of Norrel Robertson MW and his family. His wine journey began in Edinburgh three decades ago and led him part-way around the world, to Portugal, Italy, France, Australia, Chile and New Zealand - before settling in Spain in 2003.

Inspired by the terroir and the sheer quality of the Garnacha he found there - this grape became his initial focus and drive, seeking out and retrieving old Garnacha vineyards. This ‘mission’ has extended to other varieties, including an old Macabeo vineyard, planted in 1969.

As well as working closely with a select group of local growers who share his philosophy, Norrel today owns 40 hectares of mainly old vine Garnacha (between 50 and 115 years old) along with other indigenous varieties such as Mazuelo (Carignan), Moristel, Macabeo, Garnacha Gris and Provechón. El Escocés Volante have also undertaken a programme of new plantings - to create the old vines of the future. Their vineyards are based around the towns of Villarroya de la Sierra, Cervera de la Cañada, Torralba, Aniñon and Torrijo de la Cañada, 650 - 1,000 metres above sea level.

Garnacha,

Produced from 100% Garnacha Tinta grapes sourced solely from the Armantes vineyards - two contiguous parcels planted between 1937 and 1942 (and almost 5ha in total). These are north-east facing with marl and limestone soils, at around 850 metres altitude.

The grapes are harvested into 20kg cases then stored in a cool room with controlled humidity. They're fermented together in an open-topped fermenter with 20% whole bunches included. Gentle punching down is applied once or twice a day during a long, slow, gentle fermentation - after the grapes have warmed up from their cold soak. Afterwards there is a long maceration, and malolactic fermentation on skins. After pressing, the wine remains sur lie in second use 500 litre, fine-grained French oak barrels for 13 months.

An elegant and truly sophisticated red - El Cismático is only released when Norrel and the team believe they have the perfect conditions to make an Old Vine Garnacha with the capacity to age gracefully for years in bottle, gaining complexity along the way.

The nose is still very youthful, deep and complex with constantly evolving aromas from wild red fruits, beets, dried orange peel and a light touch of mountain herbs as the wine opens up. The palate is characterful and nuanced with fine tannins, notes of wild raspberry and earth, and lifted violet characters.

Nolan - Text from the Spotlight on El Escoces Volante Blog

This is a 2020 vintage, so already has a bit of bottle age to it yet it still felt like a baby. The wine was showing beautifully, this definitely wasn’t infanticide we were committing, you could just sense the bones of the wine would be perfect for long cellaring. The nose, still very youthful, is deep and complex with constantly evolving aromas from wild red fruits, beets, dried orange peel and a light touch of mountain herbs as the wine opens up. The palate is characterful and nuanced with fine tannins, notes of wild raspberry and earth, and lifted violet characters.

This is a wine for a joint of lamb with mint sauce.