Vina Zorzal Malayeto Garnacha 2018
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The really impressive and mineral 2018 Malayeto was produced with Garnacha from a single vineyard that produces wine of unusual elegance and minerality. This was the first plot they bottled separately, and this 2018 is the sixth vintage they have produced. It's a 2.9-hectare plot planted 40 years ago, on the same slope as Corral de los Altos but at a higher altitude and therefore with different soils, surprisingly deep but with lots of calcium carbonate and fine gravel. This fermented in a combination of stainless steel and concrete with indigenous yeasts and matured in a 4,000-liter oak foudre and nine used 500-liter oak barrels for nine months. This wine clearly transcends its price. It's serious but started quite shy and needed time to open up (it's extremely young and just bottled), but there is great purity and detail, and it's elegant and balanced, extremely harmonious. The palate is incredibly elegant, seamless, balanced, with very fine tannins, great integration of the oak and very good freshness, with citrus-like freshness (think blood orange skin). Most of the time, this is my go-to wine in Zorzal's portfolio, a wine of great finesse in its finest vintage to date.
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2019-
Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
Viña Zorzal is located in the Southern part of the Navarra DO, very close to the border of Rioja. The larger parent house of Vinícola Corellana was founded by Antonio Sanz in 1989. The guiding principles here have always been sustainability and a return to historical grape varieties. With the coming of age of Antonios' three sons, Xabier, Iñaki and Mikel, the winery Viña Zorzal was born. Like so many father/son stories, the children have adopted the idea of the father and taken it further. The farming is now organic and the focus is on making higher quality, site specific wines that respect history but also look to a brighter future.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Just north of Spain’s famous Rioja region, Navarra excels in the production of full and fruit-dominant reds and good quality, dry rosés. Garnacha holds most of the land under vine, with Tempranillo coming in second place.