Catalyud in the former Kingdom of Aragon, southwest of Zaragoza, is also one of those wine-growing regions that are still waiting to be discovered, but some wines are still considered an insider tip, especially because of the wines from the El Escoces Volante winery, the passion project of Norrel Robertson. Norrel's passion for wine has accompanied him since the early 1990s, leading him to internships at various wineries around the world, including in Italy, Chile and Australia. At the end of the 90s, he began his training to become a Master of Wine, which he completed in record time. This was followed by training to become an oenologist in New Zealand. His love for the rugged landscape of Catalayud then led him to Spain in 2003, where he founded the El Escoces Volante winery and released his first wine in 2004. In a landscape where wine has been cultivated since at least the 2nd century BC, Norrell Robertson knew that he would not follow modernist principles here, but would base his wine production firmly on tradition. His vineyards are cultivated according to strict ecological guidelines, and his great passion is for the Garnacha grape variety, which is bottled as a single variety, but is also found in cuvées with Bobal, Moristel and Garnacha Blanco, for example. But the cuvée of Syrah and Viognier as an answer to the great wines of the northern Rhone is also remarkable. Norrel's Robertson white wines are marketed as a blend of the indigenous varieties Macabeo and Garnacha Blanco, with the addition of a little Viognier. Norrel Robertson's wines have long enjoyed an immense reputation among insiders around the world, and since the relevant wine magazines have given them top marks, they are likely to give the Catalayud region an enormous boost.
