AllBlack Garnacha Tintorera

This is the second wine in the AllBlack range, within the unique series of wines dedicated to the great red and autochthonous grapes varieties of our country.

After tasting many Garnacha Tintorera in various regions, we focused on finding vineyards in the Almansa region, since it is the best area for us to express the powerful character, with a very lively fruit and a great balance of acidity and freshness, that we wanted for our next wine.

We found a middle-aged vineyard at an altitude of 890 meters above sea level, in a poor and undulating terrain, with great beauty, and we start to work.

The result was an elegant, powerful wine, with great fruit expression, with perfectly assembled wood without detracting that great typical fruit from Garnacha Tintorera, that we love together with the freshness provided by the vineyards at high altitude.

The image of our ALLBLACK – Garnacha Tintorera is a painting by the French painter Antoine Charles Horace Vernet (1758-1836), also known as Carle Vernet, and is entitled “Cheval Mamelouk”, which translation is “Mamluk Horse”.

The painting represents a Horse from the Mamluk army in the middle of the Egyptian desert, with a great strength and dynamism composition.

Carle Vernet was a painter and engraver in the Neoclassical style and his first specialty was hunting pictures and equestrian portraits. He was member of the Royal Academy of Paris, where he exhibited regularly, member of the Academy of Fine Arts and Knight of the Legion of Honor. He painted large paintings of battles for Napoleon Bonaparte and later with the Bourbons, he was a chamber painter for Louis XVII.

The Mamluks were Egyptian cavalry soldiers known for their excellent combat skills, in many ways associated with the excellent qualities of the Arabian horses they rode. The Mamluk army was integrated into Napoleon´s army after the expedition he commanded to the Nile river country in 1798, in an attempt to interfere with the English trade route with India. This army, among other battles, also fought in Spain, and they were in charge of repressing the people of Madrid, represented by Goya in the painting of Charge of the Mamluk on 2th May, 1808

The choice or this painting for our ALLBLACK – Garnacha Tintorera was once again, a connection at first sight. The Almansa region is closely related to the Arabas, from them comes the name of Almansa, whose most accepted meaning is “in the half of the road”, because it corresponds to a place of passage between several important cities of the time, where merchants and soldiers stopped.

In addition, Arabian horses owe their reputation to their intelligence, strong character and outstanding endurance, and it is one of the best recognized breeds in the world. Likewise, Garnacha Tintorera is a variety that adapts very well to poor soils and harsh climates, it even has the peculiarity of being one of the few red grape varieties that have colored pulp. It is a strong, resistant grape variety, with great character and personality, like these great horses. Another point in common with the painting is that Almansa region has had a great weight in the history of battles, such as the Mamluk army, and we can remember this by touring the region and visiting its imposing castles such as the one in Almansa and the one in Chinchilla de Montearagon. And finally, the great strength and dynamism of the composition of the painting is aligned with the spirit and style of our ALLBLACK – Garnacha Tintorera, full of vivacity, strength and freshness.