December 16, 2019
The 50 Best Wines of 2019: #39. Vega Sindoa Chapparal

Still
Concha Vecino
Navarra
Grenache/Garnacha
The vineyards are cared for with sustainable techniques. All are dry farmed and cared for without the use of fungicides, herbicides, or pesticides. The grapes are picked when they are phenolically ripe, which, given the advanced age of the vineyard, is very late in the season. These old clones of Garnacha have extremely long vegetative cycles and as a result, do not reach phenolic ripeness until the second half of October and first half of November.
The vineyards for El Chaparral are a selection of 40 separate plots planted between 80 and 130 years ago. The primary soil type is clay, but there are some sites that have a significant proportion of sand, which has allowed them to remain phylloxera resistant. These vineyards are planted at 600M above sea level in the northernmost zones of Navarra, which evidently results in a cool, Atlantic climate. This climate impacts the Garnacha significantly, which is a grape that takes a considerable amount of time to ripen phenolically. The result is one of the latest harvests in Spain, that normally goes well into November.
The bunches are destemmed, fermented in stainless steel with insignificant remontage.
Aged in new, second, and third use French oak barrels for six months.
0.750