El Escocés Volante Garnacha Gris
WHY WE LOVE IT
- This Garnacha Gris from Calatayud brings new life to a historic variety celebrated for its texture and vibrancy.
- The grapes are grown at an altitude of 920 meters in the village of Villarroya de la Sierra, within the Comarca de Calatayud in Aragón.
- The vineyard’s soil consists of glacial deposits, pudding stone, red clay, and carbonate.
- Garnacha Gris, or Garnacha Roya, is a historic mutation of Garnacha grown in Calatayud and nearby areas for years, but was excluded from the Calatayud Denomination of Origin in 1989. Efforts to revive this grape with a 2021 planting aim to produce a bright, distinctive wine.
- Locally called ‘La uva de los muertos’ or ‘the grape of the dead,’ for its grayish-purple skin, it is subtly reflected in a skull hidden on the wine’s label.
Varietal Composition: 100% Garnacha Gris
Tasting Notes: El Escocés Volante Garnacha Gris is a rare, limited-production Spanish wine. It showcases a vibrant, golden-hued profile defined by crispness, salinity, and aromatic intensity.
PRESS
2024 – 94 Wine Advocate | 93 James Suckling
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
El Escocés Volante is a family-owned business in Aragón, Spain, which is in the northeastern corner of the country. The estate is owned by winemaker, Norrel Robertson, assisted by his wife, Sharon, and sons, James and Will. The family started working in the wine industry in Edinburgh, Scotland, and went on the work in Portugal, Italy, France, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand, before landing in Spain in 2003.
Norrel qualified as a Master of Wine in 2000 and earned a graduate degree in Viticulture and Enology in 2003. In 2020, he was inducted into the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino. He is passionate about producing high-quality wine with a particular focus on the native Garnacha grape.