Dominio de Es
Carravilla
Carravilla is a singular place belonging, originally, to the disappeared town of Golbán, close to Atauta.
Only 0.2 of its total 0.9Ha make up our exceptional plot that, in the purest Grand Cru style, has always shown its particular aptitudes and has revealed itself as a unique terroir. And so we have understood and interpreted it.
Calcareous deposits slide down the slope and accumulate right at the bottom of the mountain. The south facing orientation combines with the freshness and moisture provided by the foot of the slope. White earth with calcareous stones and just above rows of poplars and the old orchards that reflect a contribution of deep humidity, just as in the plots of La Diva and La Mata.
It happens to be a different Tempranillo clone, being more vigorous and giving bigger leaves than what we usually see in the classic Tempranillo of Dominio de Es. The character of Carravilla is deeply influenced by the contribution of the limestone, which echoes in all aspects of a wine captivated by this terroir. A wild, prehistoric spot. A diamond in the rough.
Vintage: 2019
Location: Carravilla spot, Atauta, Soria, DO Ribera del Duero, 935 m altitude
Surface: 0.27 ha in a single plot
Vine: Old Tinto Fino, Albillo
Terroir: Sands, silt, calcareous rock
Pruning: Goblet
Grape growing: Biodynamic
Orientation: South, low part of the slope
Harvest: 26 September
Total kilos harvested: 702 kilos, 91.2 %Tinto Fino and 8.8% Albillo
Vinification: 100% destemming; 20 days for maceration. Temperature between 20 and 29 ºC
Extraction: Bucket irrigation each day during the alcoholic fermentation (16 days)
Crianza: 2 barrels, one single wine
Alcohol content: 14.3% vol
Total acidity: 4.9
pH: 3.77
2019, vintages ending in 9…
As many of the vintages that end in number 9, 2019 is so far the best Dominio de Es vintage. Quite dry weather, two heatwaves and the vineyard which, despite these features, did not show any sign of stress. Today, it is hard to understand this situation. The abundant and generosity of rainfall in 2018 may have had something to do. The legacy of the weather in 2018 combined with the dry weather in 2019 has resulted in a great vintage.
We only had 266 liters of rainfall from 1 November 2018 to 30 April 2019: A dry winter. As every year, it snowed on 5 April. Sprouting was noted down on 30 April.
Despite the frosts on 4, 5 and 6 May, the vine kept growing at good pace with no difficulties. Spring frosts usually cause stress on the plants, making them re-sprout in an anarchic way not only concerning pruning but also in the whole grapevine. It wasn’t like that in 2019.
There is no record of a frost like the one we had in Atauta on 12 June. Luckily, it was located and affected only 10% of the vine. Soria and its climate keep surprising us…
Flowering happened on 25 June, coinciding with the first heatwave in 2019, which lasted around 15 days. Temperatures reached 40ºC.
The second heatwave spanned from 22 to 26 July. We only had 45 liters of rainfall from 1 May to 31 August. An extremely dry summer.
The rainfalls on 15, 16 and 17 September (31 liters), apart from 9 liters registered on 21 September helped the vines in their ripening process and allowed the grapes to achieve normal size standards and good quantity performance ( 70 cl per 1kilo of grapes, being 63 cl the average of Dominio de Es), despite the extremely hot summer.
These are the average grape weight:
2017: 1,78/grape 2018: 2,05 g/grape 2019: 1,90 g/grape
Undoubtedly, the spring frost ruined a vast part of the harvest and the performance for 2019 was only and average of 2750 Kilos/ha.