In an ancient book on viticulture published in 1791 entitled Agricultura general y gobierno de la casa de campo (General agriculture and governance of the country estate), Joseph Antonio Valcarcel referred to Cariñena (also known as Carignan, Carignane, Mazuela and many other synonyms) in the following way: ‘Mazuela has a lower quality compared with Barbes, Tempranillo and Garnacha. The berry is really tough and thus is less prone to rot. The wine obtained is the least intense and has a shorter life.’
Additionally, Manso de Zuñiga in 1905 wrote a detailed description of the grape variety explaining the reason for...