The different terroirs which exist within the Priorat wine appellation have given rise to the creation of a new “Village Wine – Gratallops”. Just like in Burgundy, France. The prestige of this winemaking area knows no limits and Manyetes is a good example of this new wine label.
Manyetes is the name of a vineyard in Gratallops: A daring venture where vines can barely survive given the poor soil of the region, the intense sunlight and the bleak exposure. The vines are quite literally at the extreme of survival, however, this is exactly what gives rise to the principal essence of Priorat!
In this parched, arid area of steeply sloping slate hillsides, our Carignans struggle to survive. This is an extraordinary vineyard in an extraordinary setting. With the idea of bringing a touch of femininity to our wines, we have also planted the Grenache.
Today, the work has paid off and visitors to the region can appreciate the vast horizon where the Ebro river gives, from time to time, a modicum of humidity - just enough to allow the vines to survive.
The final result is staggering - a harmonious blend of these noble grapes is completely at one with the terroir and gives us a wine with minerality, femininity, subtlety and complexity which warms our hearts.
Manyetes is, quite simply, the essence of Priorat transformed into wine .
“Les Manyetes” is a south-facing vineyard, located at 250m above sea level. The soil is 100% “llicorella” (a type of schist) with very little top soil, where the vines struggle to survive. It is our hottest vineyard plot.
In this soil and with this type of sun exposure, the Carignan grape variety offers surprising freshness, yet it still retains its bold tannins.
So little wine produced due to it being the second year in a row of drought conditions... the vines, in a very clever way, produced fewer grapes than normal. Manyetes 2012 was down 50%. And yet, even though it is hard when we produce so little wine, it is thanks to these extremely low yields per vine that the grapes were able to fully ripen and give us this surprising result. Manyetes 2012 is loaded with dark tannins, and yet it is harmonious. I think it is a great year for Carinyena (Carignan) and a great Manyetes vintage too.