Casa Castillo • Pie Franco 2020

Über das Weingut Casa Castillo

Casa Castillo wurde bereits 1870 in der DO Jumilla (Provinz Murica) im heißen Süd-Osten Spaniens als Weingut erbaut. In den Vierziger Jahren des vorigen Jahrhunderts erwarb dann José Sánchez-Cerezo die Bodegas, nur um darauf statt Wein Gewürze, (vor allem Rosmarin) anzubauen. Erst 1985 wurde sich darauf besonnen, die teilweise uralten Reben wieder zu kultivieren. Zwischen den Gewürzpflanzungen erhoben sich knorrige Büsche von Monastrell-Reben, deren Bewirtschaftung auf dem sandigen Boden anfangs unrentabel erschien, die aber enorm konzentrieren Most in kleinen Mengen erzeugten.

José Vicente schließlich erkannte das enorme Potential, das in den uralten Rebstöcken schlummerte, die nie aufgrund des sandigen Bodens nie von der Reblaus-Plage heimgesucht wurden und begann Monastrell, Grenache und Syrah zu kultivieren. Vor allem der Monastrell gelang in einer Qualität, die in gant Spanien seinesgleichen suchte und schon bald erklärte Robert Parker das Weingut Casa Castillo zum besten Weinguts Südost-Spaniens.

Ab da gab es qualitativ kein Halten mehr und vor allem die beiden Einzellagen-Monastrells Pie Franco und Las Gravas zählen zu dem Besten, das der spanische Weinbau inzwischen zu bieten hat.

Über den Wein Pie Franco 2020

Der Pie Franco ist das Spitzengewächs der Bodegas und einer der größten Weine Spaniens, wenn nicht sogar der ganzen Welt. "Pie Franco" bedeutet übersetzt "echter Fuß". Und das sagt bereits viel über diesen großartigen Wein aus. Er ist einer der wenigen Weine Europas, der noch aus einer wurzelechten Rebe erzeugt wird. Er wird also nicht auf reblausresistente Wurzeln gepfropft, sondern entwickelt als wurzelechte Rebe das natürlich möglichste Aroma. Der Pie Franco ist ein reinsortiger Monastrell aus über 100-jährigen Reben. Ein unvergleichliches, dicht gewebtes Elixier, das Kraft und Eleganz in Perfektion vereint. Im Jahr 2020 vinifizierte José Vicente den definitiv größten Wein, den das Weingut je produzierte. Ein opulente Hommage an die Monastrell-Traube, eine Wein-Ikone des spanischen Weinbaus und Perfektion im Glas. Im Wine Advocate #260 vergab Parkers Verkoster für spanischen Wein, Luis Gutiérrez, die Höchstnote von:

100/100 Punkte

Der Wortlaut der Lobeshymne lautet:

I had tasted the 2020 Pie Franco during its upbringing in barrel and couldn't wait to taste the bottled version. The wine comes from the ungrafted Monastrell vines planted in 1942 by the current generation's grandfather on a south-facing slope rich in limestone and gravels. In this dream vintage, they achieved a wine with 14.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.47 and almost five grams of tartaric acid per liter of wine. The wine matured in 500-liter oak barrels for 16 months. There is precision; it's like laser cut, with symmetry and nuance, and it feels ethereal with lots of inner strength. It has the aromatic herbal notes but they are a lot subtler, and the wine is a lot more elegant and floral. The 2020s are wines of texture, silky, fine and elegant. This is the essence of the Mediterranean. Truly outstanding, world class, the best wine produced in the Mediterranean and the best wine from Casa Castillo ever. I was trying to find reminiscences with previous vintages, and it's different from 2017 and 2018, maybe a mixture of the two, but overall the 2020s are unique and have a combination of Mediterranean character and freshness more intense than any other previous vintage. José María Vicente told me the only vintage that could be compared a little with the 2020 could be 2010. I've seen this wine evolve every year since the initial vintage of 1998 to reach world class. Bravo! 7,800 bottles were filled in February 2022.

I tasted the 2019 and 2020 vintages from Casa Castillo, the leading producer in Jumilla and the Mediterranean and among the best in Spain. 2020 was a classic Mediterranean vintage there, with a rainy spring and very dry and hot summer. Budding and harvest happened on normal dates. A rain of 40 liters per square meter at the end of August changed everything, slowing down ripening, raising the relative humidity of the environment, lowering night temperatures and directing the harvest toward excellence. Their 2020s represent the finest wines they have produced since they started in 1991. Even the musts showed balance and elegance, and that continued throughout the fermentation and upbringing of the wines that are elegant and fine, with less color and extraction than normal but with great character and depth. It has the Casa Castillo style, austere, mineral with an absence of fruit, with depth and character. Furthermore, all the labels also changed to a more stylish image with the 2020 vintage. 2020 is an exceptional vintage here, the finest they have ever produced.

As for 2019, it started off as a typical Mediterranean vintage, with a rainier winter than usual and a very dry and hot growing season. But then tremendous rains on September 13 (220 liters in one day!) caused by a DANA storm halted harvesting for a week, which made for a completely atypical vintage and changed the style of the wines toward lighter and more fruit-driven Monastrell with an elegant character. The Syrah and Garnacha were harvested before the rain. To compensate, the Monastrell was destemmed 100%, and they did a softer vinification and a shorter élevage, trying to balance the wines. It's a transition vintage from the extraordinary 2018 and the greatest 2020 that they resolved quite nicely. The young 2021s show a little more concentration, a serious vintage in the style of 2018.

They are slowly replacing the sandier vineyards from the valley floor toward slopes on degraded tosca limestone soils. All of their 174 hectares of vineyards and their wines are certified organic from the 2019 vintage. Well done!

Drink: 2022 - 2040