El Escocés Volante, DO Calatayud, Spain
Winemaker and founder Norrel Robertson MW and his wife and winery director Sharon Wade in one of their vineyards
El Escocés Volante, DO Calatayud, Spain
When “The Flying Scotsman” Norrel Robertson MW landed in Spain with his family back in 2003, he quickly saw the quality potential of the old vines growing in varied terroirs across Calatayud, Aragón, the birthplace of Garnacha. The family made it their mission to seek out and revive old Garnacha vineyards.
Located in the Iberian Mountain System, all the vineyards they work with are high altitude – situated between 650m and 1050m above sea level – and some are in very remote places. The climate is Mediterranean Continental with low rainfall and an average temperature of 13C with big diurnal changes between very hot days and cool nights.
The majority of their 40 hectares of vineyards are old bush vines ranging in age from 50 to 117 years old. Yields are low – between 1 and 2 metric tonnes per hectare. All pruning and harvesting is carried out manually and they are members of the Regenerative Viticulture Association in Spain and make their own biochar.
Every year, they bring in experts to train the team in pruning practices that will lengthen the life span of their vines, both young and old, to ensure that they survive in this harsh climate where temperatures can be as low as -10 degrees C and as high as 35 degrees C.
For over two decades now, they are proud to have been able to rescue many old vineyards from being abandoned and whilst the majority are Garnacha, they also have other varieties such as Macabeo and Provechón (known as Bobal elsewhere).
85 year old Old Vine Macabeo at 850 m above sea level
They will soon be launching a new Garnacha/Moristel wine in their Single Vineyard range from a vineyard that was planted in 1920. The vineyard register states that this vineyard is Garnacha and Monastrell however, after carrying out DNA testing they have discovered that it is, in fact, Moristel, which isn’t a permitted variety in the DO Calatayud despite having been planted in the region well before the DO was created. The winery is propagating Moristel from this parcel to plant in the future as it is predicted to respond well to climate change.
This is not an easy part of the world to grow grapes in. As well as the extreme climate, depopulation means that wild rabbits and birds often threaten the grape crops, as well as fire, as Norrel explains:
“We thought we had lost the Marzolin vineyard and several others back in 2022 when the area was affected by a huge wildfire that burnt 14,000 hectares of land. Fruit trees were particularly badly affected and production may not recover. However, when we were allowed back into the area we saw that, fortuitously, these old vines had been spared by a margin of just 5 metres.”
Truly winemaking on the edge.
The Marzolin vineyard planted in 1920 that came very close to being engulfed by flames in July 2022.
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