Winemaker and Master of Wine Fernando Mora of Bodegas Frontonio thinks of garnacha as a diamond with a multiplicity of facets, sparkling differently depending on where it's cultivated. This is not just a speech he makes at parties; it's the ideal that has guided his career.

He and winemaker Mario López helm several garnacha-focused projects throughout Northern Spain, hoping to unveil its shimmering potential. Mora and López obsessively chase freshness in their garnacha, meaning they focus on higher-elevation vineyards in this oppressively hot region, as well as slate soils and older plantings.

Cuevas de Arom is their second project together, and Os Cantals is one of just two single-vineyard expressions within it. The wine comes from over seventy-year-old garnacha vines on stony, iron-rich soils at 700 meters above sea level. Dry-farmed and hand-harvested, the wine is fermented with 50% whole clusters and native yeasts. Punch downs are done manually throughout fermentation before 13 months of aging in foudre. The result is precise and structured, yet distinctly of its mountain place.

Os Cantals opens with a vivid core of wild strawberry and red cherry, threaded with notes of pu-erh tea, smoked lemon peel, and dried mountain thyme. The palate is silky, energetic, and complex, with a long finish. 95 points awarded from Wine Advocate. 

Shimmering indeed.