2015 Uva de Vida Graciano

Region: Castilla La Mancha < Spain

Grapes: Graciano

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Certified biodynamic farming; high-elevation vineyards (1600 feet) on clay soils; fermented and aged in concrete before bottling without fining, filtering, or the addition of sulfites; 13% ABV; 330 cases

Winemaker: Carmen López and Luis Ruiz

 

The wife-and-husband team of Carmen López and Luis Ruiz keep things simple at their certified biodynamic estate in Castilla-La Mancha (on the 40 latitude line, hence the wine’s name), working only with the local Graciano grape in a few different cuveés.  Which is pretty cool, as Graciano has fallen out of fashion in Spain, but can be fantastic when done right.  Like this concrete-raised Tinto bottling, which is impossibly fresh, with roses, strawberries and tart cherry skin that play up the bright, floral side of Graciano, and a dusty, earthy, mineral backbone that grounds the wine and places it squarely among the brown hills and windmills of Don Quixote’s La Mancha.