Vara y Pulgar Tinto
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Winemaker Notes
Opaque ruby. Smoke- and mineral-accented black and blue fruits, candied flowers and succulent herbs on the highly perfumed nose. Juicy and focused in the mouth, offering concentrated boysenberry, bitter cherry and violet pastille flavors that become sweeter as the wine opens up. The dark berry and floral notes linger on the spicy, very long finish, which is given shape by smooth tannins. -- Josh Raynolds.
Wine Information
Vara y Pulgar is crafted from Tintilla, one of southwestern Spain’s rarest grape varieties. Cultivated in Jerez for centuries, Tintilla, along with other varieties, nearly vanished after the phylloxera epidemic in the early 20th century. Alberto Orte has revived this ancient variety by sourcing cuttings from surviving vineyards and has successfully produced the first 100% Tintilla still (dry) wine in over a century. Jerez's famed Albariza soil, a light and porous chalk similar to that in Champagne, imparts unique qualities to the wine. Tintilla thrives in this soil, achieving ideal ripeness without excessive alcohol or overripe flavors. The result is a wine with delicate complexity, medium to full-bodied weight, and pronounced minerality, characteristic of the region. Recent genetic studies suggest that Tintilla and Graciano are the same grape, with early references to Tintilla appearing in 1807 by Roxas Clemente and Graciano noted by Abela in 1885. In Australia, Tintilla is known as Xeres, supporting the hypothesis that Tintilla, the original name, hails from Jerez.
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