Garagewine

Garagewine La Forastera

Name: Garagewine La Forastera
Brand: Garagewine
Price: 165.7 CAD
Availability: InStock

$55.23 CAD/btl $165.70 CAD/case $232.90 CAD/case Retail

5 pieces in stock

Notes

La Forastera, Spanish for The Stranger!

It seems logical that Jesús and Julián, the cousins and owners of Garagewine, who’s obsession is to bring back the indigenous grape varieties of Castilla-La Mancha, agreed to call this wine The Stranger, since it is 100% Shiraz.

One would think, why? What is their true goal in making a Shiraz (or Syrah) wine from La Mancha Toledana?

We believe that what they really wanted was to show what they are capable of doing with a purely mediterranean grape in the middle of the Meseta Castellana (extreme continental climate), a dry and austere environment, with very short and hot summers and long and cold winters.

The result is quite amazing.

If they can achieve this surprising, floral smoothness, with hints of humid forest in the nose, controlled tannins, extremely polished and delicate, keeping the meaty volume in the mouth, characteristic of the variety, then they are capable of bringing the best of all these other ancestral, rare, local varieties they are working with.

Contrary to the majority of the vineyards in La Mancha, which are trained in “gobelet” (head pruning), this small vineyard planted with 100% Shiraz vines is trained in trellis with Vertical Shoot Position (VSP) and controlled irrigation, a very common system in many vineyards in California, Australia or New Zealand. It was planted in 2005 at 613 metres of elevation, just south of Quintanar de la Orden. Only 927 bottles were produced in the 2019 vintage.

Garagewine's range includes eight varietal wines, all of which are also single-vineyard wines as shown on the labels, these include Brujidera, Tinto Velasco, Airen, Verdoncho, La Autóctona, Garnacha Tintorera, Cencibel, and La Forastera. However, Jesus and Julian have decided to cap their production once they reach 30,000 bottles total, since this project has always been about elevating their local varietals and not about money.

Facts

Annual Production: 927 bottles (The club has access to 50 annually)
Type: Tinto (red wine)
Body: Medium
Palate: Dry
Finish: Long and Delicate
Grape Variety: 100% Shiraz (or Syrah)
Viticulture / Farming: Vertical Shoot Position trellis with controlled irrigation, sustainable dry farming. Hand-harvesting with double bunch selection (in the vineyard and again in the winery)
ABV%: 14%
Ageing: Just over 12 months (371 days) in oak barrels, 50% French & 50% American oak
Winemaker: Jesús Toledo
Bodega: #garagewine (Toledo & Ajenjo)
Region: Castilla-La Mancha, Province of Toledo, municipality of Quintanar de la Orden
Designation of Origin (DOP): VT Castilla (IGP Vino de la Tierra)
Micro-Climate: The area of La Mancha Toledana has a dry climate all year round. With maximum temperatures between 33 and 37º C, and minimum temperatures between 0 and -5º C.
Elevation: 613 meters above sea level
Age of Vines: Planted in 2005. Vineyard's plot "La Blanca"
Soil: Silty with fine sand and clay

Tips

Drink now or keep for up to 6 years
No need to decant, simply open just before consuming
Pairs well with any stew, with Italian pasta dishes, Manchego cheese (any goat and sheep milk cheeses), white and red meat, Jamón Ibérico, paella and any other rice dishes
Ideally served at room temperature

Terroir

The wine region of Castilla-La Mancha is not only the largest in Spain, but it is also the largest in Europe. The vinification vineyards of Castilla-La Mancha occupy an extension of 459,000 hectares (1,134,200 acres), which equates to almost 49% of Spain's total, and about 65% of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) land surface.

Castilla-La Mancha region includes the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, and there are twenty Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs) and one IGP (PGI in English = Protected Geographical Indication).

Castilla-La Mancha occupies the central Iberian plateau, but also includes two important river valleys - most of the Tagus and half of the Guadiana - the corresponding mountain chains north, central and south of these valleys, crossing east to west, and the upper part of the smaller River Jucar on the east.

This extensive geography procures an enormous amount of terroirs, micro-climates and elevations.

Quintanar de la Orden's location is quite central in Castilla-La Mancha, and is in the north-western part of the DOP La Mancha, just about 130 Km south-east of Madrid capital.

La Mancha's extensive viticultural area spans over 154,000 hectares (380,500 acres) of vineyards across 182 municipalities and four provinces, including Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. To put this into perspective, Australia has just over 146,000 hectares of vineyard (2022 data).

In addition to being one of the largest wine regions in Spain, La Mancha also boasts a rich history in winemaking. The practice is believed to have originated in Roman times and was widespread during the Middle Ages. During the time of Moorish rule between the 8th and 15th centuries, the region was referred to as "al-mansha," meaning "parched earth," a nod to its arid countryside.

Garagewine's vineyards are located near and around Quintanar de la Orden, in the province of Toledo. The Brujidera vineyard sits at 629 meters of altitude and grow in clay-loam soils with a good cover of pebbles. The climate is very arid, the summers are short, hot, and mostly clear; the winters are cold and partly cloudy; and it is mostly dry year round. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 0 °C to 33 °C and is rarely below -5 °C or above 37 °C.

Vinification & Ageing

About 20% of the bunches are destemmed. Whole-bunch alcoholic fermentation initiated naturally by indigenous yeasts, maintained at 25 °C for about ten days. Post-fermentation maceration, vertically hand-pressed, malolactic fermentation-conversion and ageing in a combination of French and American oak barrels for just over a year (371 days exactly). Natural decantation and bottling on December 19th, 2020.

Winemaker

Cousins Jesús Toledo and Julián Ajenjo, are the creators of GarageWine and trailblazers in reviving ancient grape varieties. From these varieties, they create small-batch artisanal wines with a big focus on showing the uniqueness of each grape and their local terroir.

What started as a project in a garage has turned into a life-long mission. Since 2011 Jesús and Julián have recovered various forgotten native grape varieties, such as Brujidera, Verdoncho, Tinto Velasco and Pámpana Blanca, and are now part of a research and recovery program with IVICAM (Instituto de la Vid y del Vino de Castilla-La Mancha — Research Institute of Vines and Wine in Castilla-La Mancha). They are on track to revive other local varieties such as Albilla, Tinto Fragoso, Malvar and Moscatel Serrano.

Now, Jesús and Julián work out of their new micro-winery in Quintanar de la Orden, the small space still feels garage-like. Hand powered grape-presses and concrete fermentation eggs adorn the floor and give it a feeling of an artisan’s workshop; producing rare liquid art. Still, their operation is anything but unsophisticated; they have their own mini-lab to test wine samples which helps them further hone their craft.

Their vineyards are strictly dry-farmed, by choice, and their obsessive care over each vine for such a small yield at the end of the growing season is praiseworthy.

In their own words:

"As a small family winery, our goal is clear: to bring back the local or minority varietals in our region "La Mancha Toledana". We do this by performing microvinifications with minimal intervention and all in a completely handmade manner."

Their micro-winery is humble but all the wines they create in the little space they have are larger than life. Truly garage wines.

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