El Escocés Volante launches a new SINGLE VINEYARD wine: Marzolín

Image: El Escocés Volante’s Marzolín parcel of vines, showing how close wildfires came to destroying this historic plot in 2022

27 January 2026

The Escocés Volante team of Norrel Robertson MW and his wife Sharon Wade have been working to rescue plots of old vines in Calatayud, Aragón since moving to the remote Spanish region from Scotland in 2003. Most of the parcels that they work with contain Garnacha, but DNA testing has recently revealed that the Marzolín vineyard, planted in 1920, also contains Moristel rather than the Monastrell that is recorded in the records. They are now launching a new Single Vineyard wine, named Marzolín after this particularly resilient parcel of old vines.

The Marzolín vineyard sits at 760 metres above sea level and was planted in 1920. Its soils are of glacial origin, composed of pudding stones, pebbles and red clay. Despite being recorded in the official vineyard register as being planted with Garnacha and Monastrell, Norrel had long suspected that second variety was something else entirely, and to confirm this, carried out DNA analysis in collaboration with Vitis Navarra and the University of Pamplona, conclusively identifying the so-called Monastrell as Moristel, a historic Aragonese variety.

The winery is in the process of completing the necessary administrative work to have this corrected in the vineyard register. This is not without its challenges, as Moristel is not currently a permitted variety within the DO Calatayud, despite having been planted in the region long before the appellation was established in 1989.

Winery Director, Sharon explains why they decided to launch Marzolín as a Single Vineyard wine from the 2022 vintage:

"We have long been impressed by this variety for its resilience and drought resistance and as a result, we decided to propagate our own massal selection from Marzolín for future vineyard plantings, ensuring this historic genetic material is preserved and given a future.

The 2022 harvest felt like the right moment to begin bottling Marzolín as a single vineyard wine—though not for romantic reasons alone. In July 2022, our region was devastated by catastrophic wildfires. The main motorway and railway line between Madrid and Barcelona were cut for several days, and around 14,000 hectares of fruit trees were destroyed.

Two of our vineyards, including Marzolín, came terrifyingly close to being lost. At one point, firefighters told us the vineyard had already burned. We believed those old vines—planted over a century ago—were gone forever. But early the next morning, our vineyard foreman managed to reach the site and discovered that both vineyards had survived.

The flames had passed within metres of the vines, as you can see in the photograph. Fortunately, there was no smoke taint, as the fires occurred early in the vegetative cycle. What remained was a powerful reminder of the vineyard’s endurance—and of why it deserves to stand alone.

Marzolín is not just any single vineyard wine. It truly is a testament to heritage, survival and continuity, and to our commitment to preserving the past while planting for the future."

The Belle Époque inspired label for the new Marzolín Single Vineyard wine

El Escocés Volante decided upon a Belle Époque inspired label to honour the beginnings of this grand old vineyard plot back in 1920s. With yields of just 2.5 tonnes per hectare, only 2466 bottles were produced. It has been well received by critics with 94 points from Parker and 95 points from James Suckling, with the taster describing it as displaying: ”aromas of dark cherries, Mediterranean herbs and a violet-like floral note. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with juicy, powdery tannins and lovely red berry character."

For more information from the winery on the challenging 2022 vintage, visit the full vintage report on their website.

The wine will be available to taste on the El Escocés Volante stand at Wine Paris (Hall 6, stand B191) and we hope to show it at some Old Vine Conference events later this year.

You can watch a video of the Marzolin vineyard after the wildfires via the link below.