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Juan Carlos Sancha Pena el Gato Rioja – TINAJA Vinas Centenarias 2019

15.5% abv

Vol- 75cl

The Professor’s sense of enquiry in Juan Carlos has motivated him into many a new experiment and this is one of the best – an amphora fermented and aged take on his ancient Grenache. As you would expect from a wine made with no wood it is purer in fruit and less dense in colour- black cherry and raspberry with dusty pomegranate. The old vine deliciousness lends breadth to the weighty structure that underpins each sip.

Alongside this range under the “Ad Libitum” label he also produces this Grenache from his family’s 100 year old vines named ‘Pena el Gato’ The vines are situated on a South facing slope and yields are incredibly low.

‘There is now a Garnacha in tinaja. The 2019 Peña El Gato Garnacha Tinaja was produced with grapes from the same centenary vines as the one fermented and matured in oak. This feels more varietal, relaxed and expansive, with purer aromas and a silkier mouthfeel. The destemmed grapes fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in the tinaja for 11 months, the same as the regular but in clay instead of wood. I’m often not a fan of wines in tinaja, but in this case, I much preferred it to the version in oak. 3,150 bottles produced. It was bottled in September 2020.’
Luis Guitierrez Wine Advocate 92 Points October 2020

£26.00inclusive of Duty and VAT

Limited stock, only 10 remaining

Juan Carlos Sancha, a professor of oenology at the University of La Rioja, founded his eponymous winery in Rioja Alta along the border of D.O.Ca. Rioja, in the coldest zone of this wine denomination. Along with various plots of old vine Garnacha Juan Carlos Sancha’s winery also has vines of minority varieties such as Tempranillo Blanco, Maturana Tinta and Maturana Blanca, varieties that he and his university colleague Fernando Martinez de Toda discovered, rescued from extinction, and developed. The wine-making philosophy is based on organic practices and minimal intervention in all stages of the process, the aim being to preserve the purity and clearness of their carefully selected grapes to produce personal, elegant and powerful wines. Tim Atkin not only lists them as one of his top 20 in the region but Juan Carlos was the 2019 Viticulturist of the Year.

This cooler location, in Baños de Río Tobía (Rioja Alta) in the Najerilla Valley, contributes to the high quality of their wines. Alongside his range of redescovered varieties, bottled under the “Ad Libitum” label the winery also bottles Grenache from his family’s 100 year old vines as “Pena el Gato”. In the last 20 years, Spain has uprooted over 100,000 hectares (247,105 acres) of Garnacha (Grenache). In the denomination of origin-Rioja, Garnacha has gone from representing almost 40 percent of total vineyard in 1973 to an astounding 8 percent in 2012.

Reference #:
13312
Strength
15.5 ABV
Bottles per Case
6 bottles
Grapes
Grenache (Garnacha/Cannonau)
Organic
Yes
Biodynamic
No
Vegan
Yes
Vegetarian
Yes
Sparkling
No

What do I pay for delivery?

Orders under £150 are charged an initial £9.95 incl. VAT.

Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Isles of Scilly.
Orders under £190 are charged an initial £12.00 incl.

All stock bought from Bond will be charged at delivery cost as quoted by the bond. As this varies dependent on the location of the wines and ultimate destination this will be quoted to you at the point of billing for VAT and duty.

And can we change order.

Deliveries are normally between 09.00 and 17.00 Tuesday to Friday and a signature is required on receipt of delivery. (We do not ship on a Friday for Monday delivery unless specifically requested to do so).

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a further email and/or text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

If you are out a card is left, with an instruction to call the local depot to re-arrange delivery. Alternatively, you can inform us to “leave safe”, “leave with a neighbour”, “leave in garage” etc. and we will pass this information onto the courier. Please remember that, in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, alcohol will only be left with persons over 18 Years Old.

A shipping confirmation email will be sent when your order has been processed and shipped. You will be sent a text with a delivery time slot and a consignment number along with instructions on how to amend this if required.

We use Mailsafe packaging and double walled cardboard boxes for secure shipping of all bottles. Clear labelling marked FRAGILE is applied and all our despatches.

UK mainland deliveries are overnight from confirmation of despatch with the exception of the following postcodes where deliveries are made on a 2 to 5 day service from despatch : 

IV 3 to 11, IV14 to 28, IV 40 & IV 51 to 54, IV 63. KW 1 to 3 & KW 5 to 14. PH 33 to 41