RARE GRAPE VARIETAL RESOURCE

Produced from the native grape variety Vidadillo de Almonacid, well-known in the 12th Century under the name Crespiello, the wine comes from a vineyard planted in 1900 on limestone land. The vineyard is the first grafted after phylloxera, and the only one remaining from that time without having to be dug up. The wine is thus produced from a very old variety and the oldest vineyard of Aragón. It is a rustic, very vigorous variety, that resists diseases due to mildew and oidium very well. It can withstand water stress caused by periods of drought and rapidly draining land such as limestone. When planted on these soils, with a pruning in winter and when green ‘done to measure’, it is possible to control its vigor and produce healthy, very ripe seeds to avoid hard and green tannins. This variety is very rich in malic acid, tannins and aromatic precursors. In the year 1991, the producer for the first time produced this variety separately from the rest, and was surprised at the personality expressed in its bouquet and flavor, since the variety had a bad reputation. If fermented at 34º C, as was the case previously, the extracted tannins are very bitter, and as he did not carry out malolactic fermentation, the resulting wines were strong, acid, green and bitter. Furthermore in summer, with loss of sulfur, uncontrolled malolactic fermentation started and the product ended up like vinegar. The result bore out a popular saying at the time: “Vidadillo equals Vinagrillo”. By applying scientific winemaking techniques, the wine produced from this variety has now achieved very satisfactory results: Gold Zarcillos in 1994 (Young Red 93 Torrelongares), and in 1998 (Reserve 1991 Marques of Ballestar Grupo de Grandes Añadas), Gold medals in Bordeaux 1996 (Marqués de Ballestar), and in Italy 1994 (Torrelongares 1992). This made the producer very pleased with the variety. People in the area could not believe it, they thought it must be an artificially flavored concoction in a bottle. In 2001, the producer wanted to see if this variety could produce high expression wines using targeted viticultural methods and began his efforts to develop Vidadillo further. It is a wine with structure and powerful smooth tannins, it is oily, and presents a great complexity of aromas: it is spicy, balsamic and mineral, with an aroma characteristic of vegetable milk and fruits such as peach.It is noe produced in Aragón, in the three provinces, under different names: Huesca: Garnacha de grano gordo Teruel: Garnacha basta Zaragoza: Vidadillo, Romero.

(Courtesy of Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity – Ark of Taste) https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/?fwp_arca_settore=wines-and-grape-varietals-en)

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