Jose Antonio Garcia Cubos del Paramo Prieto Picudo Joven 2018
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Robert
Parker
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This bright, nervy red wine wine has explosive bright cherry fruits and savory herbs. Scents of smoked meat envelope the soft, plush tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The explosive and aromatic red 2018 Cubos del Páramo Cubos is from Prieto Picudo from a different zone of the province of León, not from Bierzo, but sold without appellation of origin. It feels like an infusion of aromatic herbs, even a little minty, with a smoky twist, a little à la Northern Rhône, with a totally showy nose that could even be a bit too much for certain foods. The palate is very gentle, and I'm especially surprised by the soft tannins, something that is not easy with the variety. It fermented with 50% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and matured in French oak barrels of different sizes for six months.
Jose Antonio García and his wife Julia Peña García (JAG) are at the forefront of the next generation of vignerons in Bierzo leading the charge towards wines of place and definition. Their familial roots in Bierzo are fundamental to them, as they do all of the work in the vineyards themselves, which is signified by the term viticultor on their bottles.
Jose’s first commercial vintage of his iconic Unculín Mencía de Valtuille was in 2011, after two vintages of perfecting his expression. Their cuvée Unculín is a fresh, vin de soif-style Bierzo that offers an antidote to overblown, internationally-styled wines previously made in the region. Unculín is a Vino de Villa wine from over 80 different organically-grown small plots that are family-owned in the village of Valtuille de Abajo from 500m to 650m elevation, planted with 60 to 100-year-old traditional bush vines from native varieties. JAG’s minerality-driven Unculín echoes the traditions of co-fermentation in the Bierzo region while pushing the envelope of possibilities. Unculín brings similar energy to Bierzo as the Cru Beaujolais movement in France.
In the spirit of elevating their family holdings and with an inexhaustible work ethic, Jose and Julia set out recuperating historic vineyards by hand, recovering them one by one from the stranglehold of wild ivy. It’s a monumental work considering the 25ha of indigenous, old vines they own in Valtuille de Abajo and Corullón, and the fact that they are doing all of the work themselves.
All of the work in the vineyard and winery is performed manually with the use of gravity, minimal intervention, and no chemical inputs. Quality, excellence, and soul are always the philosophy. JAG is defined by small production, very low yields, artisanal methods, and minimal intervention, yielding complex, elegant, delicious wines among the finest in Bierzo.
Spanish red wine is known for being bold, heady, rustic and age-worthy, Spain is truly a one-of-a-kind wine-producing nation. A great majority of the country is hot, arid and drought-ridden, and since irrigation has only been recently introduced and (controversially) accepted, viticulture has sustained—and flourished—only through a great understanding of Spain’s particular conditions. Large spacing between vines allows each enough resources to survive and as a result, the country has the most acreage under vine compared to any other country, but is usually third in production.
Of the Spanish red wines, the most planted and respected grape variety is Tempranillo, the star of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions. Priorat specializes in bold red blends, Jumilla has gained global recognition for its single varietal Monastrell and Utiel-Requena has garnered recent attention for its reds made of Bobal.