Garagewine

Garagewine Verdoncho

Name: Garagewine Verdoncho
Brand: Garagewine
Price: 152.78 CAD
Availability: InStock

$50.92 CAD/btl $152.78 CAD/case $162.72 CAD/case Retail

6 pieces in stock

Notes

An ancient varietal indigenous to La Mancha, Verdoncho is quite scarcely planted with only 190 hectares total. Verdoncho translates to "greenish", a name which quite accurately describes the high acidity, low-alcohol, and delicately bitter herbal character of this variety.

This wine is incredibly nuanced and delicate especially when you consider it comes from the arid heart of continental Spain. The vineyards are strictly dry farmed, and certified organic. A limited number of 2919 individually numbered bottles were produced.

Garagewine's Verdoncho is an orange wine, aka a white wine macerated with skins, in this case for a staggering 90 days, something impossible to tell by its colour. It has incredible structure and acidity. The skins give it a wild twist, but it is well balanced with pleasingly fresh floral aromas and delicate bitter herbal notes towards the end, this is an elegant orange.

Cousins Jesús Toledo and Julián Ajenjo started out in a garage with barely two tanks, two barrels, a destemmer and a crusher to produce their first 500 bottles in the 2015. Today they work alongside IVICAM (Research Institute of Vines and Wine in Castilla-La Mancha) on their research and recovery program, and they're on track to recover more forgotten varietals such as Albilla, Tinto Fragoso, Malvar and Moscatel Serrano.

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: 1320 bottles (The club has access to 100 annually)
Type: Blanco fermented con sus pieles - skin contact white wine (orange wine)
Body: Light
Palate: Dry
Finish: Light, crisp & refreshing
Grape Variety: 100% Verdoncho
Viticulture / Farming: Certified organic, dry farming, espaldera vine training (trellis)
ABV%: 11.5%
Ageing: Bottle ageing only
Winemaker: Jesús Toledo
Bodega: #garagewine (Toledo & Ajenjo)
Region: Castilla-La Mancha, La Mancha Toledana, 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: 780 meters above sea level
Age of Vines: 8 years (Paraje Casa del Títere, planted in 2015)
Soil: Calcareous and covered with pebbles

Tips

Drink now or keep for up to 2 years
No need to decant, simply open 5 minutes before consuming
Pairs well with a large variety of dishes, seafood, Italian pasta dishes, sushi and sashimi and other Japanese dishes, Manchego cheese (any goat and sheep milk cheeses), white and poultry meat, Jamón Ibérico, paella and other rice dishes
Ideally served slightly chilled

Terroir

The wine region of Castilla-La Mancha is not only the largest in Spain, but also the largest in Europe. The 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 vineyards. For reference, that would cover a surface area equivalent to 65% of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

The 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 in total (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 grows 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. Average rainfall of 2 litres per square meter and 2,800 hours of daily sunshine per year.

Vinification & Ageing

The Verdoncho grapes are hand harvested in 15kg crates in the twilight hours of the morning. The grape bunches are hand selected both in the vineyard and a second selection is made at the winery. The grapes are then de-stemmed and the must macerates with the skins prior to fermentation.

Alcoholic fermentation occurs naturally and is maintained at 16ºC. Post fermentation the wine macerates with the skins for a further 90 days before being manually pressed.

After pressing, the wine is lightly filtered and then bottled.

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.

Ratings

17.5/20 Points - Ferran Centelles for Jancis Robinson MW (Jancisrobinson.com)

100% Verdoncho from VS vines planted in 2015. Vineyard located in Villanueva de Alcardete (Toledo) at 780 m elevation and on clayey soil rich in pebbles in the vineyard parcel named Casa del Titere. Hand-harvesting with double bunch selection (in the vineyard and again in the winery). Bunches are completely destemmed and the must is fermented with its skins using indigenous yeasts at 16 °C. Hand-pressed after 60 days of post-fer-mentation maceration. Jesús Toledo is the winemaker, working with his cousin Julian Ajenjo.

Pale colour, it does not look like an archetypal orange wine. The palate is rich, fleshy, with stamina, but also with tremendous green acidity that cuts out the palate. It is a very well-made orange wine, with fruit and fresh-ness. Those who do not like acidity should stay away. But it convinced me and made me salivate. One of the most delicate orange wines that can be found on the market.

(See above Notes for description and tasting)