Casa lo Alto’s truly unique plots of land are the focus of this pioneering project with three Single-Vineyard Wines and three Estate Wines made with ancestral grape varieties.
Six years have passed since the Schenk Group acquired the Casa lo Alto estate – a unique agricultural landscape worked ever since 1796 on a hill among pine forests and holm oaks in Venta del Moro, within the Hoces del Cabriel Natural Park.
In this new era that began in 2017, soil studies have been carried out under the technical direction of Víctor Marqués to gain an understanding of the estate as a whole so the sensations of these hilly landscapes can be captured in the wines from this estate.
Casa lo Alto becomes consolidated as a leading winery, with top quality as the factor making it stand out from the rest.
After six harvests – the winery is currently busy with the seventh – it is important to capture the identity of each parcel. To achieve this, from each plot that has a characteristic that makes it stand out, a wine has been made to reflect its identity. These are our three new Single-Vineyard Wines (Vinos de Parcela) which are deep, complex and mineral. They are accompanied by three Estate Wines (Vinos de Paraje) with a more direct character ¬– fresh and full of fruit. The brand refresh includes a new logo, LoAlto, and a new personalised, minimalist and extremely elegant image on the bottles.
LoAlto Single-Vineyard Wines
The grapes that make LoAlto X Exceptional 2022 come from Casa lo Alto’s most precious vineyard, planted with Bobal vines that are more than 80 years old. This is the star of the LOALTO project – a wine of the highest quality. We sell between 500 and 1,000 bottles of its best vintages in 1.5 l Magnum format. Its first vintage is still ageing and we will have to wait several months – perhaps more than a year – before we see it on the shelves of specialist wine shops.
The other two Single-Vineyard Wines are LoAlto Los Álamos A and LoAlto El Guindal G, made with white Garnacha and black Garnacha grapes respectively. Like the other LoAlto wines, they are made with the same groundbreaking philosophy of production with minimal intervention and spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts, so that the characteristics of the vineyard, the grape, the parcel and its Mediterranean environment are expressed.
LoAlto A Los Álamos 2022 is a white Garnacha wine that clearly reflects the character of the Mediterranean and its people. It has the aromas of the region’s terroir, with hints of citrus peel and balsamic mountain herbs, perfumed with sage and white flowers. Its bright, juicy flavours provide a sizzling vein of freshness that pushes on to a long, creamy finish.
LoAlto G El Guindal 2022 is a red made from black Garnacha grapes that offers surprises right from the start with its fine, complex, fluid expression. The dark depths of the glass erupt into light aromas and flavours. Different sensations of wild berries, black fruit and undergrowth make up a bouquet of fruit and spices on the palate. Notes of rosemary, thyme, pine and black olive overlap with the crisp fruit. This is a wine with a serious spirit, showing the distinction that permeates the surroundings of Casa lo Alto.
The LoAlto Estate Wines bottle the landscape of this vine-growing region.
LoAlto Tardana 2022 is made with the native white variety of the same name, with its thick skin and a long cycle, very well acclimatised to the inland ecosystem of the province of Valencia at more than 700 metres above sea level. The wine has a floral attack combined with white fruit, withered rose petals and notes of fresh grass. At the same time, the fruit emerges with a point of ripeness and a slightly aniseed note of fennel, which defines a unique, complex aroma. Notes of citrus peel zest and green quince gradually appear.
LoAlto Garnacha 2022 is made with black Garnacha grapes grown in a chalky clay soil that is shallow and poor in organic matter. Once fermentation is over, it is transferred to a cement tank for ten months. There is no steel, no extraction and no oak. This is wine in its most basic, beautiful form: pure Casa lo Alto! It has aromas of red fruits, pomegranate and hibiscus, fennel and blackberry enhanced by tasty touches of garrigue. Fine-grained tannins shape it in the mouth: balanced, juicy and appetising.
LoAlto Bobal 2022. The entire harvest is manual and, in the winery, different percentages of whole bunches macerated in slightly crushed grapes are vatted. Once fermentation is over, it is transferred to a cement tank for ten months. LoAlto Bobal is dark red with a violet rim. It has an intense aroma of red fruits, like strawberry and cherry, together with hints of black fruit, like blueberries, accentuated with balsamic touches. In the mouth it is hefty with fruit, giving an evocative finish. Its fine-grained tannins shape it in the mouth: balanced, juicy and appetising.
All LoAlto wines are bottled without clarifying and with only light filtration. The appearance of sediments is a natural result of its ageing process and should not be understood as a symptom of damage.