2018 Nabal Gran Reserva, Ribera Del Duero.

2018 Nabal Gran Reserva, Ribera del Duero: 14.5% Vol:  90% Tempranillo, 10% Merlot & Albillo Major

These grape varieties are grown in microplots located on slight slopes on the mountainside. They are bushed vines planted between 1900 and 1930, some of them being “Pie Franco” vines, meaning that they resisted the phylloxera and therefore are the original native root stocks.
The microplots for the Gran Reserva are an careful selection of the best grapes in the Gumiel de Izan, at 860 meters of altitude. This vinegrowing -albeit not certified yet- is organic because it does not use any chemicals and, through hand pruning, it aims for a yield of no more than 1.500 or 2.000 kg / ha.
Winemaking: These grapes, which are slightly overripe, are harvested by hand and transported in 15-kg boxes to the winery. At the entrance to the winery, a long and particular selection of the bunch is carried out, determining a good maturation of the stem, since most of these clusters are to be placed complete and not de-stemmed in the low capacity tanks.
A cold pre-fermentation maceration is carried out for a week, securing the aromas and colour, followed by a long alcoholic fermentation at a controlled temperature (26-28ºC) and a subsequent post-fermentation maceration on the skins.
After this stage, the wine performs malolactic fermentation in 100% French oak barrels of first use.