Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot blend
1368 Cerro Las Monjas 2011
Barranco Oscuro

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

Producer: Barranco Oscuro (Manuel Valenzuela)

Region: Cadiar, Alpujarra, Andalusia, Spain

Wild Scale: 2/5

14.5% 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: 2011 vintage of Barranco Oscuro's iconic cuvée which takes its name from the fact that the vineyard is 1368m above sea level. This is a developed natural red wine with dark and mature fruit alongside smokey and leathery notes. Despite over a decade of ageing, the wine still displays amazing acidity and energy. Drinking very well but will keep getting better. The wine has some sediment that is best removed by using a decanter funnel but it is also completely harmless and tasteless.

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.