José Antonio Garcia Unculin 2022

Jose Antonio Garcia and his wife Julia are undeniably part of the new generation of winemakers in Bierzo. Their passion and pursuit of authenticity and sustainability result in refined wines with a gastronomic impact. During our visit to their estate, we were impressed by their meticulous approach and the careful handling in both the vineyards and the wine cellars.

Jose and Julia own around 17 hectares of vineyards, mainly in the municipality of Valtuille de Abajo and a smaller part in Corúllon. Both municipalities have been linked to Bierzo for generations; even Jose’s parents owned vineyards. They work hard in the vineyards and the winery themselves, which explains the name ‘VITICULTOR’ on their label. When they started their estate, they bought some old vineyards, ranging from 80 to 120 years old, and restored them to their biodiversity. These vines date from an era without the different clones that were created to obtain higher yields. The strength and the result of this reconstruction and age are clearly visible when you walk through their vineyards and compare them with those of their neighbours. Their approach is particularly strict and testifies to self-imposed discipline and perseverance, only local compost is used and only organic growing methods are applied.

Unculin is a very juicy and energetic red wine, which as an entry-level wine immediately arouses curiosity about the other wines of the domain. Compared to the often over-extracted mencia wines that the region used to produce, this wine offers just the necessary 'jus', expressiveness and finesse. Bierzo has had a quality classification in recent years that can be compared to the system in Burgundy: regional, municipal and single vineyards. This Unculin falls under the municipal level or Vino de Villa, from the municipality of Valtuille de Abajo. This wine comes from more than 75 different micro-plots of vineyard, scattered over the valleys of Valtuille at +/- 550 meters above sea level. Only manual work in the vineyards, also during the harvest, only 70% is destemmed (also by hand...), 30% fermentation of the entire bunches. All this happens in stainless steel tanks, after a few months of maturation on the fine lees and malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, the wine is briefly transferred to foeders to gain some oxygen and maturity.

Domain: José Antonio Garcia
Grape: 85% mencia (+ 15% merenzao, garnacha tintorera, palomino ...)
Country: Spain
Region: Bierzo
Wine style: elegant red
Wine & food: baby chicken with tarragon sauce, fried fish and shellfish, steak tartare
Serving temperature: 14°C
Storage: < 6 years consumption
Content: 75 cl