From: Montsant, Spain
Varietal: Garnaxta
Taste & Critical Acclaim: Pure and focused with notes of sun-kissed strawberry, pomegranate, red currant, and raspberry fruits backed by a strong, lifted, peppery spice, baking spice, and wild herbs. The delicate freshness and precision of the limestone vineyards come across on the palate, keeping the feel of the wine lifted, elegant, and delicate without sacrificing flavor. Silky red fruits envelop the tongue with well-delineated, mouth-watering acidity to a mineral, lingering finish.
91 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The characterful and honest unoaked Garnacha red 2021 Sindicat La Figuera was produced in a very simple and traditional way—fermented with a short maceration in underground concrete vats, where the wine matured with abundant rackings. 2021 was a cool vintage, and the wine has 1% less alcohol than the 2020 I tasted next to it; this wine comes through as fresher and with better balance. It's more delicate, elegant within the rustic and straightforward style they look for, with very fine tannins and very clean and focused flavors. A great improvement. Production grew to some 60,000 bottles. It was bottled in August 2022 after maturing exclusively in concrete.
Winemaker Notes. The freshness of the altitude gives its wines hints of citrus and flowers that are not found in other wines in the area. If we add their traditional way of making wine in underground concrete tanks, here is the result: a light and fresh wine.
Pairing: This wine is suitable for vegetarians and vegans and pairs well with various dishes. The wine's juicy and smooth character and red fruit notes make it an excellent pairing with roasted pork. The wine's mineral notes make it a perfect match for vegetarian dishes with earthy flavors, such as mushroom risotto or ratatouille. We’ve expanded upon these ideas and are sharing a recipe for Spanish Pork Skewers by David Tanis below. Think of pork chops, pulled pork, braised or grilled meats, sausages, and flavorful stews for more wine pairings. Other fantastic options include grilled Portobello mushrooms, roasted vegetable skewers, polenta with wild mushrooms and marinara, grilled polenta with chanterelles, and picnic fare like fried chicken, burgers, and pizza.
Spanish Pork Skewers
By David Tanis
About. Sindicat La Figuera is a small co-operative in the Montsant Mountains founded in 1932, producing wines of brightness and integrity. One must navigate very narrow, winding roads up the mountainside to reach the town of La Figuera, which sits at 6oom elevation and has a mere 80 residents. The city appears to rise from the mountain's peak, with the surrounding mountains and the Priorat region in view in all directions.
In the early 1930s, when the co-op was founded, La Figuera was a bustling town; there were 25 residents involved in the creation of the winemaking facility and who contributed grapes to the first vintage. Garnatxa, as the Catalans call it, has always been planted around La Figuera and is the primary grape used for Sindicat’s flagship wine.
While Cariñena is typically blended with Garnatxa in Montsant, La Figuera is known for the beauty and elegance of its pure Garnatxa wines and is one of the few places where it is bottled on its own. The town prospered until the mid-50s when a great storm devastated the area, and an intense frost occurred the year after. Residents fled, and much of the vineyards were destroyed and abandoned.
Sindicat La Figuera works with 25 hectares of Garnatxa Fina and vines range from 20-70 years. Wines are fermented with wild yeasts in underground concrete tanks with minimum temperature control, where they spend around 9 months aging on fine lees before being bottled with light fining and filtration.
Sindicat La Figuera is the recovery of an illusion, a project of 6 farmers from La Figuera. A unique village in Montsant, with very special characteristics: located at the highest point of the region – 550m-, their Garnacha vines –the only varietal– planted in goblets and ages between 30 and 80 years old stand out for their personality and particularity.
The freshness of the altitude gives its wines hints of citrus and flowers that are not found in other wines in the area. If we add their traditional way of making wine in underground concrete tanks, the result is light and fresh wine.
Surrounding the region of Priorat on all sides, Montsant shares much in common with its neighbor. Though its soils contain less schist than Priorat's, its old Garnacha and Carinena vineyards produce wines of similar intensity and character.
