Cuatro del Cuatro 2018

The pure Graciano 2018 Cuatro del Cuatro was first produced in 2015 as an homage to the Sanz brothers' father, who kept his Graciano vines when the majority ripped them up. They have seen that, with a soft vinification, the variety is not as rustic as most think and, in fact, can be quite elegant. 2018 was a tricky vintage for the variety, and the wine has moderate alcohol (13.3%), a very low pH (3.35) and notable acidity (six grams of tartaric acid per liter). It was produced with grapes grown in the village of Corella (especially from a vineyard planted in 1978), which has more Mediterranean influence that Fitero, the other village where they have the majority of their vineyards. This is a super serious Graciano, fresher than the majority of varietal bottlings out there, as they have lost the fear of harvesting it earlier, and it delivers a very spicy wine, with lots of black and even white peppercorns. I think this is very much in line with the 2016. It matured in used oak barrels of different sizes, and they did a barrel selection to produce 2,900 bottles of it. It was bottled in January 2020.