Notes
This is a rare and unique white wine with a strong personality. It carries the prestigious title of being the only remaining Garnacha Blanca wine from central Spain. The grape variety is almost extinct in continental Spain due to its extreme sensitivity to both, high temperatures and humidity, and therefore complex to grow.
During difficult years with extreme temperatures, it is even more labour intensive, and sorting is done grape by grape. You need to be a little loco to work with this variety!
Alfonso and Belarmino searched for many years before finally finding a limited number of Garnacha Blanca vines in a 65+ year-old vineyard. They painstakingly nursed the abandoned vines back to health and the result is a wine with an intense, clean, well-defined personality, and a complex nose. It has a round and broad mouth, very well balanced with magnificent but subtle acidity and a long and persistent finish.
Surprising, subtle and elegant notes of fresh grass, fennel and hay, along with hints of peach and white flowers (chamomile), which are complemented by smoky and spicy nuances from its barrel fermentation and ageing.
Alfonso Chacón and Belarmino Fernández, both oenologists, founded Canopy wines with the vision of creating organic, low-intervention wines that show nuance and character, from old vineyards — many recovered by them —in the Méntrida and Sierra de Gredos region. Their wines have gained international praise for their purity and quality.
Facts
Annual Production: 1,400 bottles (The club has access to 250 annually)
Type: Blanco (White)
Body: Medium
Palate: Dry
Finish: Very long and persistent
Grape Variety: 100% Garnacha Blanca
ABV%: 14.0
Ageing: 8 months, half in French oak barrels with bâttonnage (stirring weekly settled lees back into wine) and half in stainless steel vats with their lees, then in the bottle for at least 6 more months
Winemakers: Alfonso Chacón, Belarmino Fernández & Lorena Díaz
Bodega: Canopy
Region: El Real de San Vicente, Sierra de Gredos, Toledo, Castilla-la Mancha
Designation of Origin (DOP): Méntrida
Micro-Climate: Continental - hot and dry summers and cool/mild in the winters
Elevation: 400 meters above sea level
Age of Vines: 65 + years old
Soil: Sandy
Viticulture / Farming: Organic Farming - Terroir Driven
Tips
- Drink now or keep for up to 6 years
- Just uncork 10 minutes before serving
- Interesting to drink on its own or simply with almonds, or an assortment of nuts and dry fruits. Pairs well with Paté or any Spreads, shellfish or sea-fish dishes, Pasta, Poultry or typical Spanish, Mediterranean and Asian rice-based dishes
- Ideal slightly chilled, at 13/14 Celsius
Terroir
The Sierra de San Vicente nestled amidst the Tiétar (tributary of the Tagus) and the Tajo (Tagus) valleys, is located north of the Méntrida Designation of Origin and is under the influence of the Sierra de Gredos. It runs through an altitude of 750 meters above sea level.
This favorable microclimate can be felt at night when temperatures drop and aromas waft through our old Grenache vineyards which turn them into veritable gardens perfectly suited to a harsh granitic and demanding land.
Winemakers
Canopy was founded by Alfonso Chacón and Belarmino Fernández with the vision of creating organic, low-intervention wines that show nuance and character. Their wines have gained international praise for their purity and quality, as the famed Michel Bettane said in Shanghai, they represent the “renaissance of wines in Spain”.
Among the top wineries producing organic wines and recuperating ancestral Garnachas located at a high altitude in the beautiful "Sierra de Gredos” not far from Madrid.
The vision of these oenologists, interested in what the terroir and the grape represent, has placed their wines at the same level as the best low-intervention French wines, perfectly defined by the term “vin de garage”.
Their wines derive their authenticity straight from the land, by selecting the best vines, caring for them sustainably, clearly identifying each plot with only one or two barrels, and blending them in the bottle to create something out of this world.
Click here to read more about the winery on their website.
Ratings & Reviews
92 Points (2016) - Wine Advocate (Robert Parker)
Luis Gutiérrez (Robert Parker reviewer for Spain) notes about this wine's 2016 vintage:
The white 2016 Loco was produced with Garnacha Blanca grapes from an old vineyard on sandy soils and fermented in oak barrels. Half of the wine matured in barrel with the lees and bâttonage and the other half in stainless steel for six months. 2016 was a cool and wet vintage, ideal for fresher wines. This has a developed nose with diesel-like aromas, sometimes reminiscent of an aged Riesling, with notes of dry hay, fennel, a sherry-like twist and good overall complexity. It starts quite neutral and develops incredible complexity with time in bottle. They like to drink the 2013 now. The palate is round and powerful, with a lactic touch and integrated acidity, very tasty and long. This is not a white for everybody, as it has a strong personality. 1,400 bottles were filled in December 2017.
