‘El Manao’ is a vineyards that will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary. It was planted in 1927 with the Tempranillo variety, although the plantation year that appears in the Regulatory Board of the Rioja D.O.Ca. is 1952. It has lived through the Primo Rivera dictatorship, the II Republic, the Civil War, the 40 years of Franco’s regime, the arrival of the democracy, the entry into Europe…. and there it remains, presenting us with exceptional grapes harvest after harvest. A real treasure.
Its more than modest surface area of 0.23 hectares rests upon a very calcareous, loamy-sandy soil, with 20% slope and a south-north orientation in the plot of ‘El Manao’ on the banks of the Ebro River, at a height of 410 metres above sea level.
Dominated by a beautiful old walnut tree situated right in the centre of the plot, ‘El Manao’ has some spectacular three-arm vine stocks, measuring more than 1.5 metres in height when stripped of vegetation. As usual at that time, the vines are trained in goblet so all the tasks are carried out manually, from pruning to harvesting.
This land has never been tilled and there is hardly any erosion of the soil into which the old stocks sink their roots and have spread them throughout the years, which allows them to more than overcome the conditions of too much or too little water.
Under a Mediterranean climate with strong Atlantic influence, the temperature in ‘El Manao’ varies considerably between day and night, from the veraison to the harvesting, with up to 10 degrees difference at times. This has a highly positive effect on the grape quality, obtaining silky and round tannins, and reducing the astringent sensation.
As you can see, ‘El Manao’ is a real treasure, a vineyard that occupies a privileged place in the viticultural heritage of our winery, which we will shortly be able to taste in the glass. For the moment, the wine obtained exclusively from this singular plot rests in the barrels of our new winery. We now have to wait a little more to taste it… We will keep you informed.
