WINE OF THE WEEK: La Bien Plantá Garnacha 2023, Almansa, Spain

£12.59–£16.15, D Byrne, All About Wine, Aitken Wines, The Vineyard Dorking, Bludge, Great Grog

This bright, juicy red from southeast Spain is a new wine from Gil Family Estates, from their Bodegas Atalaya in Almansa, and it’s their inaugural biodynamic wine.

Sustainable viticulture has long been a focus and priority for the Gil family across their empire of 11 estates in 10 regions covering 1,766 ha of vines, but this is the first time they’ve produced an organic wine which also has biodynamic certification.

In a nutshell, it means they only applied natural products in the vineyard and cellar, used selected local yeasts and cultivated the vineyards and vinified the wine following the lunar calendar.

Stylistically, La Bien Plantá is a bit of a departure too. It’s unoaked and made from Garnacha Tinta (aka Grenache Noir), rather than Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) or Monastrell, the two main varieties of the small Almansa DO, and the vineyards lie high up at 700m in sandy limestone soils about 60km north of the family’s heartland and home estate of Juan Gil in the Jumilla region.

The result is a crystal-bright, pale-crimson wine bursting with sweet and sour cherry fruit, a dusting of white pepper and Mediterranean herbs, lovely freshness and tannins so light and supple you don’t feel them.

It’s best served lightly cool – around 16–17ºC or even cooler in hot weather – and pairs readily with food, as long as you don’t bludgeon it with overly powerful flavours or weight. Try it with an antipasti or meze spread, grilled Mediterranean vegetables, brown/green lentil or chickpea dishes, tomatoey pastas, seared tuna steaks, roast gammon or herby roast chicken. 13.5%. Empty bottle weight: 395g.

Finally, if you’re feeling more in the mood for the velvet touch and warmth of a fuller, more classic Spanish red, I recommend (highly) the family’s flagship Bodegas Juan Gil Silver Label Jumilla, an organic Monastrell aged in French oak barrels (£18–£20 from independents).

La Bien Plantá Garnacha Tinta 2023, Almansa, Spain

£12.59–£16.15, D Byrne & Co, All About Wine, Aitken Wines, The Vineyard Dorking, Bludge, Great Grog

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