Jose Antonio Garcia

Bierzo

Location Valtuille de Abajo, Bierzo - 9 Ha
Grapes Mencia, Godello, Dona Blanco
Viticulture Organic
Producer Jose & Julia Garcia
Website -
Location Valtuille de Abajo, Bierzo - 9 Ha
Grapes Mencia, Godello, Dona Blanco
Viticulture Organic
Producer Jose & Julia Garcia
Website -

I visit Bierzo quite regularly and enjoy drinking the wines of the names that you will all know, wishing I had only got there sooner. I have also tasted a lot of wines where I felt I wish I hadn’t been there at all. So it was with an element of reluctance that I made an effort to taste the wines of Jose Garcia, a young man in the first flushes of his wine making career. Of course, the story now does not need to be told in full, he is charming, considered, thorough and above all in possession of wit and skill. All this makes his relationship with the vineyards passed down to him by his Grandfather a naturally harmonious one. He works 29 parcels in Valtuille de Abajo, in the heart of Bierzo and where his vines are at their youngest at 80 years and oldest at around 120 and perhaps even more excitingly, several hectares in the region of Corullon. This is exciting for two reasons; first the vines here are planted on near vertical slopes in the most amazing valley and second; he and Palacios are the only two growers to have vineyards in this commune. There are exciting things afoot to be sure. 


He works without the use of agro-chemicals and allows the wines to ferment naturally, using whole bunch for the reds and gentle pressing for the whites. A Chuqueiro is a 120 year old Godello vineyard where the wine is produced in large oak and kept under Flor, which helps to take the fat out of the wine and give it an exceptional mineral edge. Unculin is his drinking label, even though the Mencia is 80 years old, whole bunch fermented and left unfined and unfiltered. Unculin Blanco is made from Dona Blanca and Godello of a similar age and kept on fine lees for a little time to help concrete the flavours of this often misunderstood variety. Aires de Vendemia is a super old Mencia produced with deft care and attention and possesses the hallowed ‘pinocity’ so often sought in this region. He is an experimenter but a traditionalist too. His wines have luminosity and drink-ability but also a sense of place, and perhaps like the man himself, they don’t come across as too serious, just a joy to be with.



2018 'Aires de Vendimia Mencía de Valtuille', Bierzo

 "Made by José Antonio García, one of the rising stars of Bierzo, this superb old-vine blend of Mencía with 4% of other co-planted red and white varieties has lovely stemmy complexity from 100% whole bunches, graceful tannins, sweet wild strawberry fruit and levels of complexity that wouldn't look out of place in a Premier Cru Burgundy. 96 points" - Tim Atkin

 


Jose Antonio Garcia Wines

Godello + Dona Blanca Godello and Dona Blanca from estate grown grapes in Valtuille. Vines planted between 1940 and 1960 at 500-550m with and east-west orientation. Soil types ecompass all that Valtuille has to offer with majority clay but also pockets of sand and gravel at the top of the slope. Vinified seperately, whole bunch direct press. The majority goes to barrel with the rest in inox tanks where they remain for 1 year.
Godello Vinyas Viejas 100% Godello. The vines here are located in Abajo above the village on the oldest plot, over 120yo. The fruit is gently pressed into demi muid and one egg, where it is left to ferment and undergo MLF. It is racked once prior to 14mth ageing. The result is a wine of exceptional complexity depth and balance. The nose has fresh rhubarb, custard and white peach and floral chamomile notes, the palate is saline, lean and racy, evolving as it finishes with a watercolour impression of the aromatics lingering for an age.
Palomino de Corullon Vino de Villa 100% Palomino. Free standing vines planted in the village of Corullon between 1940 and 1960. Sat on mother rock slate with, crucially, one of the few calcerous deposits at an altitude of 700-900m. 100% whole bunch spontaneous fermentation with 8 days skin contact. Aged in the winery for 1 year in a 500l barrel.
La Fuga Vinos Marinos 100% Albarino. 60 year old vines from various sites in the Salnes valley. Vines are traditionally trained sat on decomposed granite and red schist around the village of Sanxeno in the Val de Salnes. Jose shares this project with Chicho of Bodegas Fulcro and they vinify together. Whole bunch, direct press into stainless steel. No malo. Ageing in inox, 228l and 500l French oak.
Vinas Viejas Mencia 100% Mencia. The house wine of the estate, a whole bunch Mencia from 80yo vines in Valtuille planted on red, ferric-clay iron and which also include some Brancellao and Garnacha. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and left to age for 12mth prior to bottling. It is clean fresh with lively tannins and a clean blue fruit finish.
Julia Cofermented Mencia, Godello, Dona Blanca, Palomino, Malvasia, Alicante Bouschet, Merenzao from a single plot. Old bush vines sat on sand and slate. 100% destemmed but not crushed. 5 days in a 2500l foudre, basket pressed followed by 12 months in 500l French oak barrels.
Valtuille de Abajo Vino de Villa 100% Mencia. The vines are grown in sandy clay soil from the plots of Cabanelas, La Mata de los Pardos, and La Cova de la Raposa which sit at 500m to 600m. The fruit is hand picked and while bunch crushed under foot, and fermented in open top oak cuves with two manual punch downs a day. After 30 days the fruit is pressed and the wine blended and aged in French Barriques for 11mth. There is no pumping here, all is done by gravity. The wine is silky, elegant and incredibly well stiched together, reminiscent of great Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Corullon Vino de Villa 100% Mencia. The river Burbia marks the point at which the geology changes in Bierzo, from ferric clay to the volcanic clay slate that is found in Corullon. Jose owns some of the most valued vineyards here, along with Palacios, and for this cuvee he has used Pico de Lugar and Las T�as which range from 650m to 980m and are as steep as anything you would find in the Douro. The vineyard is also shared with Chestnut trees, and the chestnuts are rotted down to make compost for the vineyard. The fruit is hand picked and while bunch crushed under foot, and fermented in open top oak cuves with two manual punch downs a day. After 30 days the fruit is pressed and the wine blended and aged in French Barriques for 11mth. There is no pumping here, all is done by gravity.
Arena Y Pizarra Tinto 100% blended from Valtuille (sand) and Corullon (slate). 20% whole bunch and 1 year in 500l barrels.
Fontoulina 85% Mencia, 15% field blend. These vines were planted between 1920 and 1940 at various altitudes at the top of Corullon hill. Multiple sites benefit from mulitple soil types ; slate, quartz and various forms of limestone. 100% whole bunch wild ferment in an old foudre with zero temperature control. One month skin contact followed by ageing in various size French oak barrels.
Godello + Dona Blanca Godello and Dona Blanca from estate grown grapes in Valtuille. Vines planted between 1940 and 1960 at 500-550m with and east-west orientation. Soil types ecompass all that Valtuille has to offer with majority clay but also pockets of sand and gravel at the top of the slope. Vinified seperately, whole bunch direct press. The majority goes to barrel with the rest in inox tanks where they remain for 1 year.
Godello Vinyas Viejas 100% Godello. The vines here are located in Abajo above the village on the oldest plot, over 120yo. The fruit is gently pressed into demi muid and one egg, where it is left to ferment and undergo MLF. It is racked once prior to 14mth ageing. The result is a wine of exceptional complexity depth and balance. The nose has fresh rhubarb, custard and white peach and floral chamomile notes, the palate is saline, lean and racy, evolving as it finishes with a watercolour impression of the aromatics lingering for an age.
Palomino de Corullon Vino de Villa 100% Palomino. Free standing vines planted in the village of Corullon between 1940 and 1960. Sat on mother rock slate with, crucially, one of the few calcerous deposits at an altitude of 700-900m. 100% whole bunch spontaneous fermentation with 8 days skin contact. Aged in the winery for 1 year in a 500l barrel.
La Fuga Vinos Marinos 100% Albarino. 60 year old vines from various sites in the Salnes valley. Vines are traditionally trained sat on decomposed granite and red schist around the village of Sanxeno in the Val de Salnes. Jose shares this project with Chicho of Bodegas Fulcro and they vinify together. Whole bunch, direct press into stainless steel. No malo. Ageing in inox, 228l and 500l French oak.
Vinas Viejas Mencia 100% Mencia. The house wine of the estate, a whole bunch Mencia from 80yo vines in Valtuille planted on red, ferric-clay iron and which also include some Brancellao and Garnacha. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and left to age for 12mth prior to bottling. It is clean fresh with lively tannins and a clean blue fruit finish.
Julia Cofermented Mencia, Godello, Dona Blanca, Palomino, Malvasia, Alicante Bouschet, Merenzao from a single plot. Old bush vines sat on sand and slate. 100% destemmed but not crushed. 5 days in a 2500l foudre, basket pressed followed by 12 months in 500l French oak barrels.
Valtuille de Abajo Vino de Villa 100% Mencia. The vines are grown in sandy clay soil from the plots of Cabanelas, La Mata de los Pardos, and La Cova de la Raposa which sit at 500m to 600m. The fruit is hand picked and while bunch crushed under foot, and fermented in open top oak cuves with two manual punch downs a day. After 30 days the fruit is pressed and the wine blended and aged in French Barriques for 11mth. There is no pumping here, all is done by gravity. The wine is silky, elegant and incredibly well stiched together, reminiscent of great Burgundian Pinot Noir.
Corullon Vino de Villa 100% Mencia. The river Burbia marks the point at which the geology changes in Bierzo, from ferric clay to the volcanic clay slate that is found in Corullon. Jose owns some of the most valued vineyards here, along with Palacios, and for this cuvee he has used Pico de Lugar and Las T�as which range from 650m to 980m and are as steep as anything you would find in the Douro. The vineyard is also shared with Chestnut trees, and the chestnuts are rotted down to make compost for the vineyard. The fruit is hand picked and while bunch crushed under foot, and fermented in open top oak cuves with two manual punch downs a day. After 30 days the fruit is pressed and the wine blended and aged in French Barriques for 11mth. There is no pumping here, all is done by gravity.
Arena Y Pizarra Tinto 100% blended from Valtuille (sand) and Corullon (slate). 20% whole bunch and 1 year in 500l barrels.
Fontoulina 85% Mencia, 15% field blend. These vines were planted between 1920 and 1940 at various altitudes at the top of Corullon hill. Multiple sites benefit from mulitple soil types ; slate, quartz and various forms of limestone. 100% whole bunch wild ferment in an old foudre with zero temperature control. One month skin contact followed by ageing in various size French oak barrels.