'Pegaso Barrancos de Pizzara' Garnacha 2020
$150.00 RRP
A 'barranco' is a radical vineyard, and they really are: brown schist, ravine-steep, ultra-high-altitude, no 'soil'to speak of, and quite minerally with lots of quartz. Fruit from old, niggardly centenarian bush-vines, now farmed biodynamically, is now gently handled in large older French oak and concrete eggs.
The nose is a mix of glorious red fruits (wild cherry, leathery plum, boysenberry), with small flowers, angelica, the bitter oils of herbaceous scrub, thyme honey and a cold metal minerality from the slate soil. Despite great vine age and fruit concentration, Pegaso smells fresh and lively with great balance between red fruit sweetness and savoury earth aspects. The balsam and mineral smells of place inflect the mouth too, along with a peeled orange citric acid thrill. The palate is textured by a thread of beautifully mature tannin, tingling with minerals and vibrant with bright acidity. The structure of the savoury mid-palate releases to a juicy ease at end, lingering wonderfully and releasing with a perfume waft.