El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha 2016
Spectacular centenary Garnacha from Rioja
A centenary garnacha, a family story, an unrepeatable wine. El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha 2016 is Rioja in its purest and most elegant form.
Born from a vineyard planted in 1906 in Alto Najerilla, El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha 2016 is a Rioja red wine with very limited production that offers the purest and most expressive garnacha. The Acha family crafts it in an artisanal way, achieving a delicate and mature wine that combines depth, freshness, and elegance.
General features
General Information
El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha 2016 originates from the Senda de Haro plot, located in Cárdenas (Alto Najerilla, Rioja Alta), where the Acha family planted Garnacha in 1906. At an altitude of 600 meters, on clay-ferrous soils and with a north-northeast orientation, this century-old vineyard produces grapes of exceptional quality. Viticulture is manual, traditional, and respectful, with a focus on prioritizing the expression of the terroir and the longevity of the vines.
Harvesting is done manually, with cluster selection both in the field and at the winery. The grapes are destemmed and traditionally foot-trodden. Fermentation takes place in open 500-liter French oak barrels, with manual punch-downs. After devatting, a screw press is used to extract the wine, which is then aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels. The entire process is artisanal, with a limited production of just over 1,500 bottles.
El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha 2016 is part of the Proyecto Garnachas de España, an initiative by Vintae aimed at recovering old Garnacha vineyards in different regions of the Ebro Valley. This wine was the first of the project and the most personal one, as it comes from the family vineyard of Raúl Acha, technical director of Vintae. It is a tribute to his grandfather and to a grape variety that, for years, was unjustly forgotten. Enjoy this sublime red wine with red meats, game dishes, traditional stews, or aged cheeses.
Creators' opinion
El Garnacho Viejo de la Familia Acha is a dark cherry red wine. Deep fruit notes with the persistence characteristic of wines from very old vines, elegant maturity with a delicate earthy reminiscence. Pure elegance, it shows freshness and delicate ripe red fruit with notes of tobacco and spices, dense flavors that already hint at the persistent finish it will have. After the fruit, the terroir and light mineral touches appear. Surprising finish for a delicate and mature wine.
The winery
One of the latest adventures of Vintae is the Proyecto Garnachas de España (2008), directly linked to the group's technical director, Raúl Acha, who confesses to being a lover of this grape. Garnacha was, until not long ago, the most cultivated variety in Spain (it was even the predominant grape in Rioja until the seventies-eighties, surpassing tempranillo). Raúl Acha set out to select small plots of garnacha over a century old throughout the Ebro Valley. Forgotten vineyards, and in some cases, abandoned by their owners due to their low profitability: they barely produce 3-4 bunches per vine and also require complicated viticulture. Now, with these old garnachas from the Ebro Valley, Vintae creates a collection of wines that showcase how this variety behaves in different terroirs.