There is news about a winery. And other news about an entire territory.
This is one of the latter.
Aragón will be part of the next edition of The World Atlas of Wine, considered for decades one of the most important reference works to understand the world’s wine regions.
In other words: when someone wants to discover the great wine areas of the world, Aragón will be there.
And to announce this inclusion, Jancis Robinson and Ferran Centelles have focused on some of the wines that best help to understand the region’s potential.
Among them, several wines from Raíces Ibéricas.
We won’t deny that it excites us. A lot.
When the territory is the protagonist
The article, published under the title Zaragoza, land of great Garnacha, explores some of the landscapes, villages, and vineyards that explain why Aragón deserves its place in the world’s most influential wine atlas.
And if there is one variety that appears again and again in this journey, it is garnacha.
The same variety that gives meaning to our Las Pizarras collection.
A collection born to interpret Calatayud through its villages, vineyards, and different landscapes.
Because a garnacha grown in Acered does not tell exactly the same story as a garnacha born in Castejón de Alarba.
And that is precisely where the magic lies.
But the report doesn’t only talk about Aragón and garnacha.
It also dedicates a few lines to the origins of Raíces Ibéricas.
Ferran Centelles recalls how Mark Schiettekat, founder of the winery, began marketing Spanish wines in 1983 and decided to make them himself in 1992, convinced of the potential of territories that at the time barely had international visibility.
An intuition that time has ended up confirming.
Today, Raíces Ibéricas works in different Spanish wine regions with the same philosophy: to highlight native varieties and let each territory express itself through wine.
Perhaps that’s why in the report signed by Centelles there is another phrase that made us especially happy to read: “The wines of Raíces Ibéricas improve year after year.”
Because scores always bring joy. But for someone who knows Spanish wine so well to perceive a constant evolution in the project has a very special meaning.
Viña Acered: the voice of a village
Another detail that has helped broaden our smile is that the image chosen to open the report corresponds to the original vineyard of Las Pizarras Viña Acered.
A village wine born at more than 900 meters altitude and representing one of the most mineral and delicate faces of Calatayud garnacha.
In his evaluation, with 17 points out of 20, Ferran Centelles highlights its deep, earthy, and refined profile.
And he includes a statement that made us especially happy: he considers Viña Acered the most delicate and elegant wine made by Raíces Ibéricas.
Las Lomas: when a plot speaks for itself
The highest score obtained by our wines in this selection corresponds to Las Pizarras Las Lomas 2021, with 18 points out of 20.
And it makes sense.
Because Las Lomas is a wine that plays a different game.
If Acered interprets a village, Las Lomas focuses on a single plot of barely 2.56 hectares located on the foothills of Malanquilla.
A wine where garnacha expresses itself with breadth, depth, and a very marked personality.
In the tasting note, Centelles highlights the balance between fruit and aging and defines it as an authentic and characterful expression of the variety.
Much more than a good score
Of course, we appreciate the ratings.
But what we like most about this story is something else.
That Aragón occupies the place it deserves on the world wine map.
That garnacha continues to show all it is capable of offering.
And that projects like Las Pizarras help tell the diversity of a territory that still holds many stories to discover.
Because in the end, it’s not just about points.
It’s about villages.
About plots.
About landscape.
About people.
And about everything that happens when a variety finds the right place to express itself.
And in Aragón, we know quite a bit about that.