Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend
1368 Cerro Las Monjas 2005 magnum
Barranco Oscuro

Grape Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Grenache, Syrah

Producer: Barranco Oscuro (Manuel Valenzuela)

Region: Cadiar, Alpujarra, Andalusia, Spain

Wild Scale: 2/5

15% alcohol

Vegan friendly wine

Winemaking: Organic grapes from a single plot were hand harvested. Fermented with indigenous yeast. Aged in old oak barrels. No filtration, fining or added sulphur. 

This Wine: 2005 vintage of Barranco Oscuro's iconic cuvée which takes its name from the fact that the vineyard is 1368m above sea level. A powerful and full bodied red wine that still displays energetic acidity alongside soft tannins. Another example that busts the strange idea that natural wine cannot be aged. Decant before drinking.

Notes on the Winemaker: Manolo Valenzuela returned from France to his homeland of Granada province after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco. He acquired one of the highest vineyards in the world in the 1970s, he set about making wine without any additives which inspired an entire generation of winemakers from Spain and the rest of Europe. Hot days and cool nights (thanks to elevation) make this a unique environment with the Mediterranean sea just 10km away. We visited in 2023 to see Manolo still going strong at the age of 80.