Alfredo Maestro, El Rey del Glam 2021

Variety: Garnacha

Alfredo Maestro’s family came to Peñafiel from the Basque Country. Having grown up amongst the vines, he had a great interest in wine and started making his own from an early age. From the beginning, he farmed organically, yet in the cellar he worked literally by the book, teaching himself enology from a textbook, using all the tricks to make a “correct” wine of Ribera del Duero. He would use cultured yeasts, tannins, color enhancers, etc. It took some time, but Alfredo eventually had a revelation—as an organic farmer, why would he use chemicals to adjust the finished wine? It made the most sense for his cellar work to match the integrity which he used in the vineyard—so he did just that. He began eliminating unnecessary products and additives. By 2003 he was making wine without additives whatsoever, including sulfur.

The bottle name means "The King of Glam!" This is Garnacha harvested from two different plots, one in the Gredos mountains and the other in Ribera del Duero. The winemaking included both whole cluster fermentation and carbonic maceration. Due to its ageing in vats and low sulfur addition, this Garnacha is meant to be consumed immediately.