Garmón

In the village of Olivares, very near to the River Duero, the Garcías have set up their first winery assigned to the Ribera del Duero Denomination of Origin. Despite their indisputable importance in the history of Ribera wines (Vega Sicilia, Mauro, Aalto...), this is the first time that the Ribera del Duero DO and the García family have worked so closely together. The winery will be known as Garmón Continental, derived from the surnames of the iconic Mariano García's sons, Alberto and Eduardo García Montaña, and it will be the smallest winery in the García domain. The grapes of vines aged over 30 years old come from three tiny villages in the province of Burgos, lying on sandy-clay and chalky-clay soils at around 900 metres above sea level.

Garmón is a full-bodied wine, with the Ribera del Duero's characteristic aromas (not excessively ripe black fruit, liquorice and fine toasty notes), rounded tannins and well-integrated oak. In the small vineyards where the grapes are grown, they work with native clones and very low yields; the altitude bestows freshness on the wine and ensures a slow and balanced ripening that enables harvesting to take place later. On the palate, it appears elegant, refined and juicy, with rounded tannins and great aromatic breadth. In spite of its good volume it's not a liqueur type of red, thanks to the restrained extraction and the refinement resulting from what also happens in the cellar.

Definitely a wine which will be a major factor in expanding the reputations of not only the denomination of origin but also the García family. Decant and drink it slowly.