Frontonio, La Loma & Los Santos Garnacha Blanca-Macabeo, Valdejalon 2020 - 75cl
Before anything else: this is a white wine, despite what the label on the shelf might suggest. Fernando Mora MW built Bodegas Frontonio to prove that Aragón, a region most people file under cheap bulk Garnacha, can make serious whites — and La Loma y Los Santos is his argument. The 2020 blends Macabeo off clay-limestone at La Loma with Garnacha Blanca grown on slate up at Los Santos, two old parcels around 500 to 600 metres in Valdejalón.
The winemaking is deliberately hands-off. Grapes are crushed and macerated on skins for a day or so without sulphur, then fermented on native yeasts and aged a year in large old barrels. That skin contact and barrel time give the wine texture you can chew on rather than simple fruit.
2020 was a warm year, and it shows in a generous, showy glass — white peach and white blossom, then beeswax, pollen and a balsamic waft, all carried on a chalky grip that comes straight from the limestone. There is real weight here, but a citrus edge and a saline twist keep the finish fresh and dry. It drinks more like a textured Rhône white or a village white Burgundy than anything you would expect from this price bracket.
Serve it with food and it comes alive. Good now, and it will hold and deepen for three or four years if you would rather wait.
How to Serve
Serve at 10 to 12°C — too cold and you lose the texture that makes it. Pour into a full white-wine glass rather than a small flute-style one. No need to decant, though a large glass helps it open.
Where to Drink It
Bright in Hackney, a natural home for a low-intervention white like this. Sager + Wilde for a relaxed glass with texture. Brat in Shoreditch, where the wood-fired cooking loves a chalky, saline white.
Food Pairings
Roast chicken with lemon and thyme is the easy win. For something bolder, try it with grilled sardines or a plate of Manchego and quince — the wine's saline grip cuts right through.
