Description

Giró de Abargues | DO Alicante, Spain

Giró de Abargues is a wine that makes you stop for a second. Not because it is big or heavy, but because it tastes so unmistakably Mediterranean.

Made from 100% Giró, an old local grape variety, it comes from a single vineyard in Pla de Lliber in Alicante’s Marina Alta. The vines were planted in 1943 and grow without irrigation on ancient soils rich in iron and limestone.

The aroma is beautiful. Lavender, flowering rosemary and Mediterranean herbs mingle with red fruit, eucalyptus and fresh balsamic notes. There’s an earthy, mineral character underneath that gives the wine another layer without making it feel rustic.

On the palate, it has real presence but surprisingly little weight. The tannins are fine and elegant, the fruit remains fresh and there’s a lovely savoury quality running through the wine. Twelve months in large French oak barrels adds complexity without covering the personality of the Giró.

This isn’t another powerful Mediterranean red trying to impress you with sheer concentration. It’s more delicate, aromatic and intriguing than that — and that’s exactly what makes it special.

---

🍇 Key Details

• Region: DO Alicante – Marina Alta (Spain)
• Grapes: 100% Giró
• Vineyards: Finca Abargues, Pla de Lliber, around 300 meters altitude
• Ageing: 12 months in 500L French Allier oak
• Alcohol: 14% Vol.
• Style: Elegant, aromatic, fresh and Mediterranean
• Serving Temperature: 16°C
• Contains Sulfites

---

🍷 Tasting Notes

• Appearance: Bright, deep garnet red
• Aroma: Red fruit, lavender, flowering rosemary, eucalyptus and Mediterranean herbs with earthy, balsamic notes
• Palate: Fresh and expressive with fine tannins, lovely depth, subtle minerality and a long, elegant finish

---

🍽 Food Pairing

• Mediterranean rice dishes and paella
• Tuna and meaty fish
• Lamb chops
• Grilled and roasted meats
• Iberian charcuterie
• Sheep’s cheese and mature cheeses

---

💎 Why We Love It

A fascinating Alicante red that shows a completely different side of Mediterranean wine — fragrant, fresh and elegant, with fine tannins and a wonderful wild-herb character.

---

About the Producer

Pepe Mendoza Casa Agrícola is the personal project of Alicante winemaker Pepe Mendoza, created after more than 25 years working with the vineyards and wines of his family’s winery.

His focus at Casa Agrícola is firmly on the Mediterranean landscape and the varieties that belong to it. Rather than chasing international styles, the project works with local grapes and traditional dry-farmed vineyards to produce wines that taste unmistakably of Alicante.

And Giró is one of the most fascinating grapes in that story.

Pepe describes it as a variety that has connected Alicante with Mallorca and Sardinia since around the 1500s. It is sensitive to powdery mildew and naturally low yielding, so over time it lost ground to easier, more productive varieties. Today, Pepe regards Giró as a small viticultural treasure worth protecting.

Giró de Abargues comes from Finca Abargues in Pla de Lliber, in the Marina Alta. The vineyard was planted in 1943 in the traditional low-density bush-vine system and is completely dry-farmed. The soils are particularly distinctive: ancient Triassic formations with iron-rich red clay and abundant limestone.

The approach in the winery is deliberately gentle. Fermentation takes place naturally with indigenous yeasts, and around 30% of the stems are retained. The wine is handled carefully and then spends a year in large 500-litre French Allier oak barrels.

The idea isn’t to manufacture a polished international red. It’s to let Giró, the old vineyard and the Marina Alta speak for themselves.

And they have rather a lot to say.