Barco Del Corneta Prapetisco 2014

Prapetisco comes from the village of Fermoselle, in the province of Zamora, in the heart of the Arribes del Duero area, on the border with Portugal. The Juan García vines, a local grape variety known as Mourisco in Portugal, are between 60 and 80 years old and planted on granite soils above the gorges of the Douro. This wild landscape combines a continental climate with the influence of the river, giving wines of astonishing freshness for Castilla y León.

The grapes are harvested by hand, fairly early to preserve the freshness of this delicate variety, then destemmed. Fermentation takes place in a 1,000-litre vat with native yeasts and gentle extraction. The wine is then aged for 12 months in 225-, 400- and 600-litre barrels, before a bottling that respects the fruit.

This wine reveals notes of cherry, blackberry, red fruits, pepper, wild herbs, musk, smoke and earth. The fruity, peppery nose is nuanced with herbal and earthy accents. The palate, juicy and moreish, very fresh, tightens on the mid-palate, with supple tannins and a fresh finish with spicy accents.

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.