Bodegas Virgen de la Sierra "Lo Brujo" Garnacha 2023

"Lo Brujo" is Spanish for a male witch, wizard or sorcerer. In this case, winemaker Manuel Castro is "Lo Brujo," having conjured up this delicious Garnacha with an expressive bouquet of brambly blackberry, black cherry, red currant and a healthy dose of spice, in particular black pepper. In the mouth it is full of concentrated berry flavors, lovely spiciness, and a strong yet well-balanced underline of minerality. Made from Garnacha grapes selected from bush vines averaging 50 years in age, this is an outstanding wine at an exceptional value.

"Lo Brujo" comes from old vine fruit in the rolling red hills of Calatayud. Sustainably-farmed fruit comes into the cellar for a natural fermentation in stainless steel, naturally settles in the cod winter, and is aged for nine months in the bottle before release. While this wine is produced by a co-op, it is produced by one firmly focused on quality... and it shows. The winery pays its indivual growers based on the quality of their fruit and not on the quantity.

Bodegas Virgen de la Sierra is a small winery in the town of Villarroya de la Sierra that has been making wines for over a century, boasting the oldest Bodega in the region of Calatayud. True to the traditional vineyards of the region, they farm predominately small plots of old bush vine plantations scattered amongst the hillsides of the Sierra de la Virgen mountains. All practices in the vineyards and the bodega are very natural and sustainable, and the resulting wines are of exceptional at a magnificant value. Having old winemaking traditions combined with newer wine making technologies, it has taken their amazing range of 20- to over 100-year-old fruit vines to unbelievable levels in the final bottled product.

Still to this day, the people of Villaroya pilgrimage to a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that sits atop the Sierra de la Virgen mountains (where the bodega takes its name), and pray over the coming year’s harvest.