Bodegas Altolandon, Mil Historias Garnacha, Manchuela, Spain, 2020

Producer Profile

Owner & winemaker, Rosalia Molina, makes organic wines in one of Spain's highest altitude wineries. Her mission is to make wines that express the typicity of DO Manchuela: the vineyard, the altitude and the varieties planted.

This is a climate on the edge of what is possible: at 1,100 metres above sea level, the grapes experience a large diurnal range that encourages even ripening and helps to retain natural acidity. Rosalia's vineyards are certified organic, she uses only natural fertilisers, promoting biodiversity by welcoming chickens, sheep and pigs from local farms to roam the vineyards freely. Grapes are hand harvested and vinified as naturally as possible with native yeasts and little other intervention. The wines are then aged in clay amphora and some in French oak to give texture and complexity.

Viticulture

Indigenous Garnacha grapes from the DO Manchuela. Clay and calcareous soils with larger stones on top.

Winemaking

600 litre inox tanks are used for this wine to best extract colour and aromas. The wine is left in contact with the skins for 2 to 3 weeks at a controlled temperature. Spontaneous fermentation to best show the potential of the grapes and gentle pumping over for 5 weeks. When alcoholic fermentation is complete the wine is pressed directly to third use, 225 litre French oak barrels where the malolactic fermentation takes place, also in a natural and spontaneous way. The elevage about 4 months in oak barrels. Stabilisation is also natural, as during the coldest months, temperatures can go to minus 15º C.

Oak Ageing

Time: 4 Months
Type: French 225 Litre 2nd and 3rd Use
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

Intense and bright picota cherry colour. The nose is clean and intense, lots of black fruits, candy and floral notes.  A medley of plum, strawberry, black cherry and black currant with undertones of white pepper, earthy notes, and a very pleasant balsamic end with a hint of sweetness. This is elegant, crisp with mineral undertones and notes of rosemary and cedar that emerge as the wine evolves – not to mention the sweet but vibrant tannins that promise a bright future.

Food Matching

Grenache pairs perfectly with grilled, stewed and braised meats like beef, veal, pork, chicken and of course game.