Jose Ant. Garcia

Bierzo sits in the northwest of Spain, in a valley where the granite and slate mountains of Galicia meet the high meseta of Castilla. It is geographically and culturally distinct from the rest of the country's wine regions: a small, enclosed basin with a maritime-influenced climate, dramatically different from the continental heat just a few kilometres to the east. The combination of altitude, slate soils, and Atlantic moisture creates conditions for Mencia, the local red grape, that produce wines closer in texture and spirit to Burgundy's Pinot Noir than to anything you would expect from Spain.

JAG Viticultor is the project of Jose Antonio Garcia and his wife Julia Pena Garcia, based in the village of Valtuille de Abajo. The initials stand for their family name and the term Viticultor, meaning vine grower, signals the hands-on, farming-first philosophy that defines their work. They manage 22 to 25 hectares across 29 separate parcels in Valtuille de Abajo and the steep, slate-soiled slopes of Corullon, working with organic practices and minimal intervention: native yeasts, manual harvesting, gravity-fed systems, and a commitment to preserving the genetic heritage of old vines that in some parcels reach 80 to 120 years of age.

The Un Culin, their village wine from Valtuille de Abajo, is the most accessible entry into the JAG range. Named with a word that carries affectionate informality in the Bierzo dialect, it is made from 80-year-old Mencia vines, fermented with approximately 20% whole clusters, and aged in oak barrel. It is vivid and energetic, with a perfumed red-fruit character and the fine, silky tannins that old-vine Mencia consistently produces. The Un Culin Blanco pairs old-vine Godello with Dona Blanca from similarly ancient parcels, aged on fine lees for mineral depth and a long, textured finish.

Both wines represent some of the most compelling value in the entire Briffa portfolio, and they point toward a producer whose best wines, the single-vineyard expressions from Corullon's slate terraces, rank among the most serious made in Spain today.

Briffa Wine Selections is the exclusive importer of JAG Viticultor wines in Malta. Explore the Un Culin range and order online.