Sara I René Barbier Sindicat La Figuera 2024

Sindicat La Figuera is born in the small village of La Figuera, at the heart of the Montsant appellation, in Catalonia. The old bush-trained Grenache vines, 30 to 70 years old, grow between 450 and 550 metres above sea level on limestone and clay-limestone soils. The cool, airy climate of this high-altitude sector produces floral, ethereal Grenaches, quite different from the sun-soaked profiles of neighbouring Priorat.

The grapes from the village's last remaining growers are vinified with a short maceration in concrete vats, to preserve the fruit and the finesse of the tannins. The wine is then aged for eight months in these same concrete vats, without oak, to keep all the freshness and transparency of mountain Grenache.

This wine reveals notes of strawberry, redcurrant, pomegranate, wild flowers, forest floor, Mediterranean herbs, citrus, violet. The luminous nose is lifted by a subtle saline touch. On the palate, the wine glides with great fluidity over crunchy red fruit and supple, delicate tannins, then a fresh, persistent 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.