Pegaso Arrebatacapas Cebreros 2019

Cebreros is both the name of the village and the appellation of origin in the southeast of the province of Ávila, within the greater Sierra de Gredos region, the mountainous area located on the continental divide of Spain. The region is unspoiled, wild, rustic, full of energy and light, and as authentic as it gets. It is a transitional zone where northern Spain gives way to southern Spain. The wines from the Sierra de Gredos mountains to the west of Madrid (aka Vinos de Madrid) have finally begun to claim their rightful place alongside other top wine regions focused on producing world-class garnacha. For many insiders, the region is now leading the conversation about this Mediterranean garnacha grape, now understood to be indigenous to Spain. 

Telmo Rodríguez discovered Cebreros while traversing the Cañadas Reales (ancient sheep herding trails which criss-cross throughout Spain) with his father in 1999. Enchanted by the old vines and incredible natural beauty of the terrain, Telmo made his first wine there that year with Pablo Eguzkiza. He used the name Pegaso, a tribute to the famous Spanish car and truck manufacturer of the 1940s, which is dear to collectors with an eye for design and style. 

The Arrebatacapas vineyard is planted on red metamorphic slate soils known as pizarra, which are unique to the village of Cebreros, folded into the mostly granitic mountain range. This slate soil makes Cebreros unique within the Sierra de Gredos region. Pizarra soil is located above 950 meters, up to 1200 meters, mainly with an eastern orientation. The wines from here have a signature expression: they are always fresh, complex, direct, and profound.

Arrebatacapas is one of the great single vineyards of Spain. It is from the vineyard which started it all for Telmo and Pablo in Sierra de Gredos in 1999 and inspired the direction of Compañía de Vinos. Arrebatacapas is a steep, south-facing 2.1ha slope at an elevation of 1050-1200m, with garnacha vines planted in 1953, surrounded by juniper, rosemary, and lavender. Considerable veins of quartz pass through the red slate vineyard, giving exotic, nervy, perfumed, and epically structured wines that are amongst the most profound examples of garnacha produced anywhere on the planet. The farming at Pegaso is organic, and the wines are made with low intervention and minimal sulfur at bottling.

Vinification – Whole clusters are picked by hand in small boxes, with a strict selection made in the vineyard. The clusters are de-stemmed, crushed, and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in large neutral French oak foudres with very long maceration times (over 40 days). The wine is then aged for 12 months in new and used 600L French oak barrels sourced from different forests.