Ulterior Garnacha Parcela No. 6 Organic 2019, Bodegas Verum

Winemaker Elias Lopez describes this as “Spain’s answer to Pinot Noir,” and it’s easy to see why. With a unique and beautiful, transparent peach-rose colour, this is almost a rosé wine, however it has concentration and complexity that’s virtually never seen in rosé. It has classic red Burgundy aromas of ripe cherries, rosehips and earthy, leafy, ‘woodland walk’ nuances, alongside an alluringly fresh apricot character that is all of its own. In the mouth, it is succulent and rounded, with surprising body for such pale colour, and yet such soft tannins as to be pretty much unnoticeable. With a hauntingly long finish, this marvellous wine is drinking beautifully now and over the next 3-4 years at least. This is crafted in the way Spanish wines used to be made before French got involved in the 19th Century. It is aged underground in large clay ‘tinajas’.