Alto Horizonte

Alto Horizonte

[A project to unlock the charm of cool, high-altitude Garnacha]

The Alto Horizonte project is based in the villages of Navatalgordo and Villanueva de Ávila, in the province of Ávila. Spreading across the northern and southern banks of the river Alberche, this mountainous country makes for some of the most singular — and most demanding — viticulture anywhere in Spain. As the population has drained away, many of the old vineyards have been lost, and almost nothing new has been planted in their place.

The broken terrain of the Sierra de Gredos makes large vineyards impossible; instead there are scores of tiny micro-parcels scattered across the hills, planted with old Garnacha. This is among the coolest Garnacha country in Spain, and at over 1,100 metres one of the highest.

Aurelio and Micaela set out to celebrate the old Garnacha vineyards that survive here, and to make the case for their importance to Spain's viticultural heritage.

The soils are granitic, varying in depth from one parcel to the next.

Part of the crop is fermented as whole bunches, part destemmed. Vinification takes place in concrete, in stainless steel and in French oak, with wild-yeast fermentations, gentle extraction and ageing in stoneware vessels as well as concrete tanks and large-format French oak — all of it chosen to keep the original character of the wine intact.