Pegaso Arrebatacapas 2022

Arrebatacapas is a 2.1-hectare plot planted in 1953 near the village of Cebreros, in the province of Ávila, at the heart of the Sierra de Gredos, west of Madrid. This Grenache land rises between 950 and 1,200 metres above sea level, on schist and slate. Cleared in 1999 when it had gone wild, it offers the purest expression of Gredos slate, with an almost Alpine freshness.

The grapes are fermented with native yeasts, then undergo a long maceration to extract the substance gently. The wine is aged for about a year in 600-litre casks that are not new, to respect the purity of the fruit and the minerality of the terroir, with a production of just a few thousand bottles.

This wine reveals notes of black cherry, wild raspberry, graphite, warm stone, lavender, rosemary, pepper, liquorice. The ruby colour precedes a deep nose, reminiscent of the surrounding flora. On the palate, breadth and tension combine, with dense substance carried by dark minerality and remarkable freshness, through to a long, saline and precise finish.

The history of wine in Spain is so ancient that no one really knows who first brought the vines to the region. By the time the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was already well established, and Spanish wines were widely traded throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa. You could say that Spain is a winemaking miracle. After years on the sidelines of the world of fine wines, it is now a major player. Investment and ambition in vineyards and wineries are resulting in increasingly rich, complex (often high in alcohol), and spicy reds that are gaining popularity with international consumers. Proud to have more land dedicated to vines than any other country, Spain is only now beginning to capitalize on this resource in a consistent way. Spain is a chaotic jumble of regions and subregions, much like its landscape is a chaotic jumble of incredibly rugged scenery. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the lush, green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the parched vineyards of the southeastern Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace for viticulture is the average altitude of its vineyards, which is over 600 meters. Many Spanish vineyards are thus able to produce grapes with good color and acidity simply because nighttime temperatures are relatively low and the grapes don't ripen until after a sufficiently long growing season. But there is a real treasure trove to be found for those willing to dig, and now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all sorts of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine. Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun to craft spectacular wines and experiment with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. Wine remains an important commodity and an integral part of Spanish culture.