2024 Las Pizarras 'Fabla 506' Garnacha-Syrah Calatayud

Calatayud is Garnacha country: high, dry hills in Aragón where the vines root into slate and quartzite and the nights stay cool. It's also one of the last places in Spain where serious Garnacha still sells for everyday money.

Las Pizarras ("the slates") is the slate-focused label of Bodegas Raíces Ibéricas in the village of Maluenda. In 2020, Belgian entrepreneur Mark Schiettekat stepped in to save the local cooperative from closing and rebuilt it around the area's Garnacha vineyards.

The name tells its own story. Fabla is the language spoken in the mountains of northern Aragón for more than a thousand years, and 506 is the number of the tank that held this blend. It's 80% Garnacha and 20% Syrah, with part of the Garnacha spending a few months in barrel and the rest kept in tank to protect the fruit.

The 2024 just earned 95 points and a Gold Medal at the 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards, right after the 2023 vintage landed at #65 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2025. Two vintages in a row, two of the biggest stages in wine.

Expect ripe red fruit, plum and fig, a lift of black pepper from the Syrah, and a mineral edge from the slate. Pour it with grilled lamb, ribs off the barbecue, or a spread of tapas.