Bancroft

2019 Las Alas de Frontonio La Tejera, Bodegas Frontonio
£258 per 6 bottle case in bond

‘ The 2019 Las Alas de Frontonio La Tejera was produced with a Garnacha-based field blend, as the 1.4-hectare 85-year-old vineyard where it comes from also has some Macabeo. It’s a plot on clay, slate and quartzite soils at 630meters in altitude with a northwest orientation in the village of Alpartir. They used 100% full clusters for the native fermentation in open-top oak barrels, which allowed them to foot-tread the grapes. The wine matured for 14months in small (550-liter) oak vats from Italy in a cold underground cellar 17 meters below ground. This has a spectacular nose, subtle and elegant and an improvement even over the great 2018. It’s vibrant and pungent, and the tannins are very fine, slightly chalky and give it a nice texture. There’s a salty twist on the finish. 2,643 bottles were filled in September 2021’ 96 points. Luis Guiterrez, The Wine Advocate

2018 El Jardín de las Iguales Macabeo, Bodegas Frontonio
£696 per 6 bottle case in bond

‘ It’s always interesting to taste two vintages side by side, and when it’s the top white and from two vintages like2017 and 2018, even more so. The 2018 El Jardín de las Iguales Macabeo comes from a later harvest when yields were better, which resulted in more wine. Furthermore, it was an easier and more complete vintage, and the wine shows it. The full clusters underwent a 40-hour cold soak before being pressed, and the juice was put to ferment in a 1,100-liter oak foudre, where it was kept with lees (but without bâtonnage) until it was transferred to 500-literoak barrels to complete its élevage. The aromatic profile of this 2018 is very different from the 2017 I tasted next to it. There is great purity, transparency and finesse here, the wine is elegant and subtle, deliciously floral, with tons of energy in the palate, citrus, mineral and long. It’s floral, but there are also salty notions, the wine made me think of food. It feels weightless, but it has power and energy. This got me gobsmacked. Truly amazing. It’s very drinkable now but should develop beautifully in bottle. 1,320 bottles were filled in February 2020. I retasted the white 2018 El Jardín de las Iguales Macabeo, from a vineyard planted in 1898. This is as good as I saw just after bottling, and it’s moving at a very slow pace. It has developed more complexity, varietal notes of pollen and flowers, very integrated oak and a lively palate with subtleness and elegance. There is a lot of purity here. It shoulddevelop very nicely in bottle’ 96+ points. Luis Guiterrez, The Wine Advocate

2019 El Jardín de las Iguales Garnacha, Bodegas Frontonio
£876 per 6 bottle case in bond

‘The red 2019 El Jardín de las Iguales Garnacha comes from a rare old vineyard, a north-facing slope with slate soils planted with Garnacha, but there’s also some white grapes (Macabeo), all fermented with indigenous yeasts in1,000-liter oak vats with 100% full clusters and a long maceration of 86 days. It matured in well-seasoned, neutral 456-liter oak barrels from the Hospices de Beaune for 14 months. It’s very pale, subtle and elegant, more elegant and refined than the previous vintage, with some herbal aromas, hints of fennel, celery and curry and tons of flowers and herbs, more complex and deeper than the 2018 that I also retasted next to it. It’s ethereal and has lots of light and energy, tons of elegance and with a level of refinement and precision that is moving. This wine is better each vintage, more Burgundian in 2019. I wonder what’s going to happen in 2020 and 2021… Only 785 bottles were filled in April 2021’ 98 points. Luis Gutierrez, The Wine Advocate