Manos Negras Malbec Stone Soil Select 2019
Type: Red
Country: Argentina
Region: Mendoza, Uco Valley
Grape Variety: 100% Malbec
Alcohol Percentage: 14%
Viticulture: Certified Organic | Vegan Friendly
Climate: Warm sunny days with cool mountain nights
Terroir: Sourced from the Altmira district of the San Carlos county, located in the southern Uco Valley at an elevation of 4,000 feet. Altamira has Mendoza’s most unique soil profile, with a patchwork of sandy, silty and stony soils all present in the same vineyard. The stony soils contain a high content of surface stones – round rocks that are literally painted white with calcium carbonate. These patches of stony soil are very low in organic material and very high in mineral content. Their poor profile naturally brings down yields for an exceptional concentration of aromas and flavours. Their rocky character imparts a stony texture to the Malbec wines. The Manos Negras Stone Soil Select Malbec is made entirely from select Malbec grapes from these patches of stone soils.
Ageing: Gentle de-stemming, cold maceration for 6 days at 8°C. Whole berry fermentation with natural yeasts and max. temp. 18° C. Extensive pumping over, punching down and delistage for the first 10 days of fermentation. Total fermentation time of 18 days. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, 20% new oak
Color: Dark red
Nose: Medicinal and ripe on the nose, deep and inviting
Palate: Silky texture with a racy flash of acidity on the finish. Excellent plum fruit, herbal hints and wonderful structure with fig flavours on the long finish
About the Winery:
Manos Negras focuses on latitude winemaking, planting Torrontes in the northern stretches of Cadayate in Salta, Pinot Noir in the southern-most region of Neuquen in Patagonia and cultivates 50 year-old Malbec vines in the prized Altamira appellation in the Uco Valley.
Manos Negras mean “black hands” and refer to the fact that “real winemakers” get their hands dirty (and dark) in making wine. The winery was founded in 2010 by friends Jeff Mausbach and Alejandro Sejanovich. Both of them had worked together for over 25 years.
Their story began at the famous Bodega Catena Zapata where Alejandro Sejanovich and Jeff Mausbach worked together for many years. Jeff is an American-born sommelier and Alejandro Sejanovich is a viticulturist who is now considered one of the most knowledgeable experts on the terroir of South America today. In fact, Alejandro was the man responsible for some groundbreaking research on the Mendoza Malbec clones leading to his pioneering work in high-altitude vineyard plantings.
The winery only uses wild yeast strains for fermentation, with the whites being produced with no malolactic fermentation or oak influence. The Reds are aged in old French oak, with a very small proportion of new oak. Both red and white undergo cold maceration and cold fermentation.
