From: Navarra, Spain
Varietal: Graciano
Tasting Notes: A clear, medium-intensity, ruby-colored wine. Clean, high-intensity fresh aromas of black fruits like blackberry and blackcurrant, as well as black pepper, cedar, and earthy tones. Dry and fresh on the palate with soft tannins and a medium body. Black fruit flavors, mineral hints, and a long finish.
"Wonderfully heady with powerful mulberry scents and juicy fruit. Great impact! Then vibrant and lively. Real lift. Precise and surely no oak but pure fruit. Amazing length. Nice label too." –Jancis Robinson
"The varietal red 2019 Graciano was cropped from a very healthy vintage they consider exceptional, when they could bottle this wine of grapes from the village of Corella at 13.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.4, so with measured ripeness and very good health. It fermented in 10,000-liter vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used French oak barrels of different sizes for nine months. It's herbal and vibrant, with pungent aromas of bay leaf, spicy and very tasty. This strain of Graciano seems to deliver less color and body, and the wine shows it. This is medium-bodied and has very fine tannins, pungent acidity and a long and tasty finish. The herbs turning more into flowers with time in the glass... Another bargain." –Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 91 points
Pairing: Possible pairings are abundant, and include lentil stews, chorizo, lamb-stuffed peppers, spicy pasta dishes, and anything off the grill. Personally, we’ve been craving something a little more comfort-driven & thus, are sharing this recipe for Baked Bean and Cheese Quesadillas (Martha Rose Shulman, NYT)
About. Graciano is a black-skinned wine grape from northern Spain, grown principally in Navarra and Rioja. Although rarely seen outside Spain, the variety is found in small quantities in Australia and California. Under the name Morrastel, it is also grown in small quantities in the Languedoc.
The classic Graciano wine is moderately tannic (however, this wine is an elegant expression of Graciano and has fine-grained, silky tannins), deeply colored, and intensely perfumed, with aromas of mulberry, violets, and chocolate. In Rioja, where most red wines are aged in oak, these notes are complemented by vanilla and sweet spices – the trademarks of barrel-aged red wine.
Graciano's intense aroma makes the variety exceedingly popular with winemakers, who use it mostly in the classic Rioja Blend with Tempranillo and Garnacha (although a few varietal examples exist). The variety's presence is felt in blends even when used in small volumes. In this regard it has much in common with Petit Verdot, another color-rich, flavor-packed, red wine variety prized for its role in blends and only rarely vinified alone.
Unfortunately, Graciano vines are less successful in the vineyard than in the winery. Not only are they particularly susceptible to mildew, but they are also very low-yielding, making the variety unpopular among vine growers – particularly those paid by the kilogram. In the 20th Century, many Rioja wineries uprooted their Graciano vines, in favor of more fashionable grapes such as Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. Happily, the variety is now steadily returning to importance, especially within warm, arid climates.
Although various conflicting stories exist, Graciano is thought to be the same variety as Sardinia's Cagnulari.
