Las Alas de Frontonio 'La Tejera'

Score

96

Score

94

"Fernando Mora MW and Mario L¢pez make this wine from a single vineyard with an average age of 80 years. A field blend of mostly Garnacha and some Macabeo, it is intensely aromatic with pretty red cherries and thyme. A redcurrant and rhubarb core leads to a graphite, flinty finish. The vines are grown on slate and quartz, giving this individual wine an indelible energy."

Score

93

"The Las Alas de Frontonio is Fernando Mora,s old vine bottling, as these vines are in excess of eighty years of age. The vineyard is a field blend that is primarily planted to garnacha, but includes several other grapes, including a percentage of the the white grape of Macabeu that one usually finds in blends for sparkling wines from Catalu¤a. The vineyard,s soils are quartzite and the wine is fermented entirely with whole clusters and then aged fourteen months in demi muids. The 2020 version shows lovely depth in the bouquet, wafting from the glass in a mix of dark berries, fruitcake, roasted meats, pepper, a touch of garrigue, stony soil tones and a topnote of bonfire. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, peppery and nicely transparent down to its soils, with a good core of fruit, ripe tannins, fine focus and balance and a long, nascently complex and well balanced finish. This is going to be a very tasty bottle once it is ready to drink, but it will need some time in the cellar to soften up. 2034-2065+."

Score

95

"The 2020 Las Alas de Frontonio La Tejera wants to be a light and fresh Garnacha that combines the character from the soils with attractive aromas of aromatic herbs. It's the result of fermenting the full clusters of an old plot on slate, clay and quartzite soils in concrete with selected yeasts and then matured in foudre for 14 months. It has moderate ripeness and alcohol (13.5%) while retaining good freshness and acidity. It has flowers (dry rose petals), citrus and tons of aromatic and Mediterranean herbs. It's a little rounder than the 2021 I tasted next to it (a constant when comparing the 2020s with 2021s), with rounder tannins and a gentler mouthfeel. 4,531 bottles produced. It was bottled in March 2022."

Score

97

"The 2021 Las Alas de Frontonio La Tejera was produced with Garnacha interplanted with some Macabeo from a 1.4-hectare, 85+-year-old vineyard on clay, slate and quartzite soils at 630 meters in altitude with a northwest orientation in the village of Alpartir. It fermented with 100% full clusters and native yeasts in open-top concrete and matured for 14 months in Italian oak foudres. It has 13.5% alcohol, remarkable freshness and acidity and a tantalizing nose with explosive aromas of tangerine peel; the whole 2021 vintage feels quite citrusy, but this has special nuances. It's super precise as well as expressive, floral, nuanced, elegant and complex. The wine has energy and grip, with tons of flavor, flowers and tangerines, again, and tannins that are very elegant and fine. This is an awesome Garnacha with a different and strong personality. A very special wine. 4,166 bottles were filled in March 2023."