Sierra de Tolono Camino de Santa Cruz 2021

Sierra de Tolono Camino de Santa Cruz 2021

Sierra de Tolono
$50.00

Grape: Tempranillo
Vintage: 2021
Type: Red

This is Sierra de Toloño's ultimate expression of Tempranillo. Vines are planted at 700 meters altitude, (which is relatively high for the region) on an organically farmed, single vineyard. Combine these factors in addition to limestone soils to create a wine that is completely indicative of the region. Grapes are hand-picked and undergo spontaneous fermentation in old, used foudres and clay amphora. Very much a low intervention style - Sandra Bravo likes to leave her wines well alone if possible - Camino de Santa Cruz comes from a single 0.2-hectare parcel at 650 metres in Rivas de Tereso. Lavender and rosemary aromas segue into a grippy palate with plum and damson fruit flavours and sinewy, grippy tannins.

Sierra de Tolono is Sandra Bravo's Rioja Alavesa project, based in the high, limestone-rich foothills below the Sierra de Cantabria. After working in several regions, Bravo returned to make wines that express the cooler, more Atlantic side of Rioja through old vines, organic farming and parcel selection around villages such as Rivas de Tereso. Her cellar work avoids the heavy oak signatures associated with classic Rioja, favoring native fermentations, concrete, amphora and used wood. The wines are fresh, floral and precise, built around Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura and the mountain wind that preserves acidity in this part of the region.