Paso Las Manas 2022 (Artuke)

Cellar for up to 20 years. Decant for an hour or more before serving. Paso Las Manas is a classic taste of Spanish red, packed with scents of red and black fruits, cigar smoke, dried herbs, and mulled wine spices.

It is made from 100% Tempranillo, harvested from a rocky, 3.9-hectare vineyard at an altitude of 730 metres – one of the more extreme sites in the region. Bodegas Artuke was founded in 1991 by Roberto de Miguel, between the towns of Baños de Ebro and Ábalos, in Rioja.

Its name is a portmanteau, taken from the names of its founder’s two sons, Arturo and Kike, who run the winery today. It consists of 22 hectares of vineyards, many of which were once abandoned, before being discovered and preserved by Arturo and Kike.

In the glass, Paso Las Manas is a stunning reddish purple. It envelopes the tongue in flavours of blackberry, plum, and raspberry jam, with an undercurrent of stony minerality, cinnamon, and star anise.

The grapes were harvested by hand, and fermented in French oak barrels. It is medium-bodied and fresh in character, with finely-grained tannins and good acidity. It is perfect for pairing with roast chicken, pork, or a tuna steak.