We had a very dry start to 2023. After a few showers in the first half of December 2022, we continued in drought mode until June 2023. Like many parts of Mediterranean and continental Spain, we had barely a drop of water for 6 months. However, the growth and phenological cycle followed a traditional pattern in Calatayud and most of Aragón, with budburst on Garnacha occurring around the first week of April. Whilst April and May were not as warm as in 2022, shoot growth was quick to start. Flowering and fruit set were staggered. Storms in June brought some respite with up to 100mm to 150mm falling in 10-15 days. Our harvest started on the 7th of September (10 to 15 days earlier than the norm) and we had all our vineyards picked by 1st of October, starting from 650 metres above sea level moving up to 1000m. The clear signal was that the older vineyards handled the difficult conditions of 2023 well.

The Macabeo comes from our Cerro Merino vineyard at 920 metres elevation planted in 1969 on a glacis soil. The Garnacha Blanca from a gravel soil at 750 metres.

Grapes were hand picked into 20kg cases and stored overnight in a cool room before processing. Varieties were mixed in the press. We follow Burgundian methods in the cellar: grapes are loaded whole bunch to the press, then we use a long slow press cycle with no sulphur and enzymes. Must is cold settled over night then racked to used 500l Stockinger and François Frère barrels with almost zero toast. Spontaneous fermentation proceeds at ambient cellar temperature (18 to 20C) for around 2 weeks until dry. The wine was then kept on full fermentation lees for a further month before racking back to the same barrels.