Meet the Winemakers

Producer: El Escoces Volante
Winemaker: Norrel Robertson MW
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain

El Escoces Volante is the project of the Scottish (but already ‘adopted’ in Spain) Norrel Robertson MW. He is one of the best and most admired winemakers in the country. It was not the first time we talked about Norrel’s project and it won’t be the last, I’m sure. He has been producing his own wines in Spain for 15 years.

In the late 1990s Norrel decided to pursue his career in winemaking and worked vintages in Chianti in Italy (Tenuta di Arceno), Portugal (Esporão and Quinta de la Rosa), Australia (Nepenthe), France (Dom du Clos Roussely) and Chile (Laroche).

In 2003 he moved to Spain as a flying winemaker for the UK-based International Wine Services and quickly fell in love with the old Garnacha vineyards in the area of Calatayud. Soon after, he decided to start making his own wines in the region. He also leads and consults on projects in Murcia, Valencia and Galicia.

Currently, Norrel owns 21 hectares (52 acres) of old-vine Garnacha around the villages of Villarroya de la Sierra and Cervera de la Cañada in Calatayud. Most of his vineyards range from 45 to 110 years old but he has also encouraged some new plantings too.