Gomez Cruzado Rioja Honorable

This is 100% old vine Tempranillo from a higher elevation vineyard nestled at the foot of the Santa Cantabria mountains with calcareous clay soils. The gnarly, head pruned vines soak in the hot sun but have a great degree of freshness due to the cool winds and altitude. The grapes are hand picked into small picking bins (33 pounds), hand sorted and destemmed at the winery, finally sitting in the cool temperatures for four days. Everything is fermented in stainless steel fermenters with daily pump overs and delestage. The juice is transferred to new French barrique with weekly battonage, where ML occurs naturally. The wine rests for 18 months prior to bottling and sits in the cool cellars for 24 months.