Grano a Grano Graciano 2013 75cl

Similarly, as the Tempranillo, the 2013 Graciano Grano A Grano feels much better balanced and less oaky than in previous years. Here the aromatic profile is so different that it made me jump from my seat with its aromas of wild berries, raspberry leaf and cracked peppercorns. In a way it made me think of a red from Galicia, as it has that Atlantic freshness. The palate is light and fresh, with superb acidity, focus and delineation. There are some peppery and spicy flavors from the élevage, but they are quite subtle and appear in the background. This is a superb, impressive interpretation of the grape, in a different way with an effervescent minerality and acidity that makes you salivate. 1,752 bottles were filled in May 2015.<br/>I visited the vineyards of Abel Mendoza who owns some 20 hectares divided into some 42 plots from the villages of Ábalos, San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida. The approach is work hard in the vineyards and minimal intervention at the winery. They are ageing the Grano a Grano range in 500-liter oak barrels for the first time in the 2015 harvest. He's also experimenting with a 750-liter, egg-shaped plastic vat for ageing a blend of Graciano and Garnacha, also from 2015. When I asked him about the vintage, he told me that for him it's too warm and there was a big problem with hail. It was the earliest vintage ever: they started and finished in September! He believes they haven't had a 'normal' vintage since 2010. They have less wine in 2012 because it was too warm, while 2013 was rainy and cold, and 2014 was a little more balanced with yields closer to the average. Fermentation is in stainless steel and cement tanks--mostly open for carbonic maceration. The whites ferment in oak barrels and none of them go through malolactic fermentation. The whites from 2015 were bottled after five months in contact with the lees. The wines I tasted this year felt less oaky than in the past, with the wood in the background. There is enough stuffing in the wines to absorb the oak anyway, but when young, they often felt very oaky. This time, maybe it's the freshness of the 2013 reds; the oak felt much better integrated.