Telmo Rodriguez spent ten years hiking the Cañadas Reales with his father throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. These hiking trails date back centuries and crisscross most of central Spain. Rioja winemakers, their intention was to write about the lost vineyards of Spain, but in the Sierra de Gredos just north of Madrid, the project began to morph into something else. In the village of Cebreros they found vines 4000 feet above sea level, ancient, gnarled bush vines of Garnacha on pure slate and crumbled granite that set off alarm bells in Telmo’s mind. These grapes were something special, something more than a chapter in a book. Over the next ten years he and his winemaking partner Pablo Eguzkiza recovered three vineyards in the area, Arrebatacapas, Granito, and finally Zeta. 

The Wine: Strawberry fruit leather, sandy soil, dried cherries, dusty tarragon, cacao nib, vietnamese cinnamon. The palate is full bodied with buoying acidity and chalky tannin. intensity  of black raspberry and herb crusted earth. A chiseled wine for land based paella, pork loin, and hard cheeses.