Garnacha, Bodegas Breca ‘El Nacido’

raspberry │ pepper │ iron

Juicy raspberry and cherry explode upfront, followed by cracked pepper and dried herbs. There’s an iron-tinged minerality that comes straight from those gnarly old vines rooted in rocky slopes. Medium-full, spicy, and very gulpable. Aged in large used oak barrels, just enough to soften edges and deepen texture without masking fruit. The focus here is Garnacha purity.

2021 was a classic Garnacha year in Calatayud — cooler harvest that preserved acidity, so the wines balance ripe fruit with freshness instead of jam.

Breca is Ordóñez’s project to showcase old-vine Garnacha from Aragón. These are vines often over 100 years old, planted high in the Sierra de Pardos mountains — a literal ‘born survivor’ story, fitting for a wine named El Nacido [‘The Born’].

Calatayud is a lesser-known, underappreciated wine region, dominated by slate, quartzite, and red clay, with poor nutrients and incredible drainage — perfect for Garnacha, which thrives when it has to struggle. These old bush-trained vines, often over 50 to 100 years old, produce small, thick-skinned grapes that yield wines with deep color, bold fruit, and that telltale peppery, mineral backbone.