Ramblis Del Arco 2013, Bodegas Bernabe Navarro, Alicante, Spain

 An amazingly delicious, expressive, intensely-flavoured red wine, that makes you want to drink it. Precision work on maturation in oak (6 months), use of all natural winemaking processes and a very rare grape variety. 

As Alice Feiring, US author of 'Naked Grape' writes crisply: “It screams place and has plenty of bones."

Food match: Perfect with red meats, game, rice dishes or cheese

Wine facts:

• organic, no sulphites added, vegan, sugar free, gluten free, dairy free
• grapes: Forcayat del Arco
• sugar: 0 added sugar, residual sugar <1 g
• sulphites: 0 added sulphites, naturally occurring sulphites <10 mg
• ABV 13%   

Read more about no sulphites added wine labelling here (short read). Find out more about differences between organic, vegan and natural wines here (long read).

Bodegas Bernabe Navarro story: Rafa Bernabé and his wife Olga set up the project in order to help protect local traditional viticulture, especially where there was a risk of some vineyards being sold to property speculators. The vineyards are all dry grown, old bush vines with very small yields. Rafa wants to respect this sense of place by intervening as little as possible both in the vineyard and in the winery.

Hot, humid and Mediterranean climatic conditions near the coast becoming drier and more continental further inland.

Grapes come from Finca Usaldón (Villena-Alicante) Parcel “El Motor de la Amistad” at an altitude of 700-730 meters on a soil of limestone and decomposed granite, covered in shingle and large pebbles

VINIFICATION:

• Manual harvested
• 100% destemmed
• Fermentation in stainless steel tanks
• Indigenous yeast
• Aged for 6 months in oak barrels
• No filtration
• No fining

Certified organic and suitable for vegans. No allergens used. Wine with no added sulphites.