La Maquina Monastrel 2010

This is the third vintage of La Máquina Monastrell, a Spanish red wine made in the Yecla DO, located in the southeastern province of Murcia.

As usual, this Crianza red wine is made principally of Monastrell, complemented with a touch of Grenache and Syrah.

The Monastrell grapes come from over 50-year-old, venerable, ungrafted vineyards located south of the DO, in a tremendously arid and sun-beaten area. The yields are very low ((8 hectoliters per hectare), and the growing conditions are extremely tough. In the words of Daniel Alba, oenologist and head of the winery, "the Monastrell is not the winemaker's best friend. However, it is a true delicacy for wine lovers."

After the manual harvest, the grapes were selected, gently pressed and cold-macerated for 48 hours. Then the wine underwent alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts for 14 days. Malolactic fermentation was completed in French oak barrels; 500-litre barrels for the Monastrell and 225-litre ones for the other varieties.

Then, La Máquina Monastrell 2010 was aged for a period of 21-22 months. Finally, this red wine from Yecla was gently filtered before its bottling.

Decant 1 hour before drinking. Drink until 2026.

Production of only 3,000 bottles.