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El Cismático

El Cismático is part of our range celebrating the colourful life of Aragonese nobleman, Pedro de Luna, once Pope Benedict XIII in Avignon, later declared Antipope. He was declared a schismatic in 1417, hence the name of this wine.

Interestingly, Saint Andrews University in Scotland was founded by papal bulls issued by Papa Luna and the Scottish Crown recognised him as the Pope until his death.

This label was recently updated for us, by local artist Daniel Verón based on an original design by Claudio Bado Antuna/El Escocés Volante. Interestingly, Saint Andrews University in Scotland was founded by papal bulls issued by Papa Luna and the Scottish Crown was one of the few in Europe to recognise him as Pope until his death.

The label depicts our Monte Armantes vineyard where this wine originates and, hovering above, is an eagle representing Papa Luna, and a Dragon, representing the Order of the Dragon that wanted to oust him as Pope. The meeting was a disaster. These two figures appear on a baptismal font commissioned by Papa Luna which can be found today in the Cathedral at Tolosa. It is believed that Pedro de Luna wanted to convey a message about the declaration of Constanza in this font.

Valdelabarga

This label celebrates the amazing longevity of these beautiful vines and their very special terroir.

Our Valdelabarga wine comes from a spectacular vineyard at the foot of Sierra Armantes that can be seen in the background on this beautiful drawing done by Daniel Verón, a local artist. 85 year old vines grow out of an incredible terroir of pudding stones down to a depth of around 3 metres. Situated at 680m above sea level, this is one of the lower vineyards on our estate but that is still quite an altitude! As you can see, these old Garnacha vines throw some amazing shapes and in amongst them you can also find some Bobal and Macabeo too.

Mataquemada

Mataquemada originates in an isolated part of our county, the beautiful village of Torrijo de la Cañada that used to produce 3 million kgs a few decades ago and today only two small parcels of Garnacha remain. We are incredibly lucky to be able to harvest grapes from one of these parcels, owned and worked by 83 year old José Cuenca who you can see in this video.

On this label, we wanted to celebrate the winemaking heritage of this historical village. This drawing by local artist Daniel Verón, depicts the family bodegas dug into the hillside above the village where families would make their vino casero every year. Now, many of these Bodegas have fallen into ruin but some are still used for family celebrations and village fiestas. You can see the vineyard and village in this video.

Manda Huevos Range

Manda Huevos is a popular saying in Spain that can mean “No way!” “Get out of here” and other things along those lines… It all began with a Latin legal term; Mandat Opus. The original meaning was along the lines of “Need dictates/necessity obliges”.

Applied to winemaking, we took that to mean that the quality of the fruit dictates the quality of the wine.” We had to make these wines as the grapes demanded.

Manda Huevos Blanco

Inspired by our local Roman history, we selected this Roman egg and dart motif to accompany this wine’s red counterpart. The Romans were in this region for around 300 years and left their mark both in Bilbilis and in the surrounding area: at least two Roman baths have been discovered in Calatayud; Roman pergolas were built on the Celtoiberian settlement in Valdeherrera; and in Cervera de la Cañada, even a Roman Aqueduct.

Columns and other building elements taken from Bílbilis can today be seen in the Plaza España. Very close to the vineyard where this wine originates, there is a Roman pottery kiln that made Terra Sigillata ceramics. So, how could we not celebrate the Roman heritage of this region?

Manda Huevos Tinto

This painted image of a woman’s face was taken from a ceramic fragment found by archaeologists in the Roman Ruins of Bílbilis, just outside Calatayud. Today, this fragment can be seen in the Museum there. We have seen first hand a lagar for making wine in this Roman city that thrived for over 300 years. Martial, a renowned Roman writer and inhabitant of Bilbilis, wrote: “Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exercise for men.” Marcus Valerius Martial. We would absolutely concur!

A few years ago, we donated 50c for every bottle sold of this wine to support the Museum and archaeological works at Bílbilis and other sites around Calatayud.

Mazuelo

The image on this label is adapted directly from photos and videos taken in our Mazuelo vineyard. You can see the red brown soils, Sierra Armantes in the near distance and overhead, storks are flying. You can see the inspiration for this in this video, taken by our vineyard manager one day as he went to plough. This was a very special moment and one we that wanted to encapsulate on this label.

The flora and fauna in this region are very special: we get vultures, partridges, deer, boar… At the far end of the vineyard you can just make out winemaker and owner, Norrel Robertson, gazing out over the landscape. Mazuelo is the local version of the many synonyms for Carignan.

El Matón

The inspiration for this label is very simple: the vines themselves. These wonderful old vines throw some amazing shapes like octogenarian dancers. It’s quite unusual to find a whole vineyard planted with 100% Provechon (the local name for Bobal), and it’s a variety we usually blend so we thought it would be interesting to make a single vineyard wine. The name, El Matón (The Thug), is the nickname of the vineyard owner a singular character but who couldn’t be less like his name: warm, open and affable and, like his vines, a lot of fun!