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Research highlights viticultural value of old vine Garnacha

These studies illustrated that wines made from old vine Garnacha have both greater ageing capacity and expression of site-specific aromas compared to wines made from younger vines.

The researchers also established a method for dating vineyards where older planting records are unreliable.

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The research was undertaken by CRDO Campo de Borja as part of its Historic Garnachas project, in association with the Universities of Navarra and Zaragoza, along with the Ainzón, Aragonesas and Borsao wineries. Additional support was provided by the Government of Aragón and the EU.

The first study was carried out over three years and saw the University of Zaragoza’s Aroma Analysis Laboratory extract musts fortified with alcohol from Garnacha grapes, both from historic and adjacent young vineyards, across the Campo de Borja. Studying these extracts, the researchers found that historic vineyard grapes contain higher levels of aromas from shikimic acid, essential for the perception of black fruit.

Professor Vicente Ferreira of the University of Zaragoza, explained: “The results were remarkably consistent. We saw that across all sites, the fruit from old vines displayed greater complexity and a more intense phenolic structure, making wines that are more suitable for longer ageing.

“Another key finding was their ability to express the distinct character of the terroir. While the wines from younger vines were similar in profile, we saw marked differences between the old vine grapes from different sites.”

The second project saw researchers at the University of Navarra analyse vines for growth between pruning cuts, which allowed them to simply and effectively estimate vineyard age. From this, they derived a formula to calculate a vine’s age based on annual growth and total height. This solves a key challenge of vine age certification in Spain, where vineyards planted in the 19th and 20th centuries were not registered until years after planting.

Commenting on the findings, The Old Vine Conference co-founder Sarah Abbott MW, said: “We have long believed through comparative tastings that wines made from old vines display greater concentration and complexity of flavour, as well as being better able to express site-specific nuances, so to have this proven scientifically by the team at the University of Zaragoza is a great step forward for the old vine community.

“The study by the University of Navarra is of equal value for its establishment of a method of verifying vine age in regions where records are incomplete or unreliable.”

More information about the Garnachas Históricas project can be found here.

• The Old Vine Conference
• Garnachas Históricas
• University of Navarra
• University of Zaragoza
• old vine Garnacha
• vineyard age