Bodegas Gratias Got 2018

100% Bobal from 30 year old vines located in Manchuela, Castilla–La Mancha. The grapes are hand harvested, and then pressed into stainless steel tanks for primary fermentation. The wine undergoes full malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, and is then racked into Tinajas, a type of clay pot similar to the Georgian Qvevri. After spending 20 months on the lees in the Tinajas, the wine undergoes a light, gross filtration, and is then bottled unfined, with a touch of SO2. Juicy red fruits mix with an underlying loamy aroma and a dense mouthfeel. Perfect for higher acid foods or heavier meat dishes, or pizza!! Serve with a slight chill.

If you begin along the Mediterranean coastline of Valencia and drive west, inland toward Albacete, you will eventually, after 100 kilometers, pass over the Cabriel river, and suddenly find yourself in an ancient region known as the Manchuela. It is here, between the Cabriel and Júcar River valleys, where pine trees and mediterranean shrubland known variably as garrigue or matorral cover rolling upland composed of limestone and clay soil. Winemakers Ivan Gomez and his partner Ana along with their friends Silvia Araque and Juán Armando dry farm ten hectares of bush vines here in the Manchuela to produce what they’ve coined “ethical wine.” The viticultural philosophy they’ve employed is rooted in their name: ethical wine is grateful (gratias) wine. As they put it, “a sustainable project of high integrity, fully committed to both the natural and social environment we live in.” They work with native, historically overlooked and under-exported grape varieties that simply take a bit more time and care in the vineyard to really flourish. Rich and lively grapes like Bobal, Tardana, Pintaillo, Marisancho and Pedro Juan. They ferment and age in both oak and tinaja (clay amphora). Unfined, unfiltered, and never adding additional SO2 these are truly living wines that are as distinct as they are delicious.