Kimera
100 % Garnacha
|
This project by Luis Moya Tortosa, in collaboration with Gonzalo Celayeta, was initiated in 2014. The vineyard located in San Martín de Unx (Navarra) is also cultivated according to strict organic farming standards. Luis oversees the management of the plots he now owns.
This is a unique garnatxa cuvée. Firstly, the old garnatxa vines (35-60 years old) grown in bush vines on poor clay-limestone soils at 600m altitude have a very low yield (20 hl/ha). They produce fruit with complex and intense aromas. Secondly, in addition to artisanal vinification like the Masusta cuvée, the elaboration in an old terracotta tinaja (amphora) of 4,500 liters for 10 months (on the lees) allows a very pure expression of the garnatxa. The result is quite spectacular because the large volume of the tinaja means that the ratio between the contact surface and volume is very low, allowing you to keep a maximum of fruit flavors and reduce oxidation. In addition, the old tinaja is rather inert given the significant deposits of potassium bitartrate on the walls, a salt found naturally in wine. During its stay in the tinaja, the wine undergoes a slow malolactic conversion. About 4,000 bottles produced for the first vintage in 2015. The larger cultivation area currently allows the production of 6,000 bottles. Natural wine, light filtration. |
Reviews
2020 Vintage
- The still red 2020 Kimera Garnatxa comes from two vineyards in San Martín de Unx, one trellised and the other one head-pruned, both on terraces with clay, limestone and sand soils, recovering the ancestral tradition to mature them in large (4,500-liter) old tinajas from La Mancha (amphora) where the wine spent 10 months with the lees. It has a very expressive nose and is ripe without excess at 14.58% alcohol, with a low pH denoting freshness, quite fresh for a 2020. It’s juicy and fruit-driven, with a peppery twist, notes of aromatic herbs, Mediterranean herbs, thyme, rosemary, perfumed and showy. Raw San Martín Garnacha.
6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2022.
90 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (Apr. 13, 2023)
2017 Vintage
- I tasted two vintages of the still red, the youngest of which was the 2019 Kimera Garnatxa, which matured in two amphorae for 10 months and feels more fruit-driven than the 2018 I tasted next to it. It was produced with grapes from two vineyards, using two old tinajas from La Mancha to try to keep the freshness and the primary character. It’s ripe at 14.5% alcohol and has good freshness, berry and herb aromas and flavors and a soft texture and fine tannins with a faint earthy touch. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in July 2021.
89 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate (Apr. 2022)
2017 Vintage
- Part of the project together with winemaker Gonzalo Celayeta that also produced some ancestral sparkling wines, the 2017 Kimera is pure Garnacha from two vineyards in the village of San Martín de Unx. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel and matured with the lees in an ancient earthenware 4,500-liter tinaja (amphora) for 10 months. 2017 was a ripe year, and the profile of the wine is more Mediterranean, revealing aromas of thyme and rosemary intermixed with the berry and flora notes of the variety. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with fine, chalky tannins and a long. tasty finish. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled In April 2019.
90 pts — Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate #248 (Apr. 2020)