El Escocés Volante

A Scotsman's adventures in Aragón.

Bodega El Escocés Volante is the project of Norrel Robertson, a Scottish Master of Wine which, after finishing a Politics and International Relations degree at the University of Aberdeen, started a career in wine that led him to become Master of Wine in 2000 and to get a Post-Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Enology from Lincoln University, New Zealand.

After working for some years as a flying winemaker in countries like Chile, Portugal, France and Italy, in 2003 Mr. Robertson decided to set up shop in the village of Calatayud, in the northern Spanish province of Aragón - considered the historical birthplace of the Grenache variety - to produce wines under his own brand, which he fittingly called El Escocés Volante ('the flying Scotsman.') The company is currently a family business, run by Mr. Robertson, his wife Sharon and their two sons, James and Will.

Bodega El Escocés Volante has around 40 hectares of vineyards – most under the DO Calatayud seal – boasting an impressive diversity of soils: decomposed slate, iron rich clay, limestone, sand and pudding stone. The old vines, 50 to 115 years of age, are planted between 600 and 1,100 metres of altitude, around 5 historic villages: Aniñón, Villarroya de la Sierra, Cervera de la Cañada, Torralba de la Ribota and Torrijo de la Cañada. The area has a harsh Continental climate, with bitterly cold winters, scorching summers and huge temperature variations between daytime and nighttime. Since 2014, vineyard management follows organic farming techniques – in the process of being certified. As of late, it has adopted the principles and practices of regenerative viticulture.

The Grenache variety, native to the Spanish region of Aragón, defines the identity of the wines of the Escocés Volante winery. Mr. Robertson also grows other local cultivars, like Provechón (the local name for Bobal), Moristel, Mazuela (Carignan), White Grenache, Grey Grenache and Macabeo, as well as the international varieties Syrah and Viognier. Vinification and ageing takes place in different types of containers, some traditional, like stainless steel tanks and oak barrels, some less so, like concrete diposits and Flextank eggs.