Manzán, the Bobal estate wine from Casa Lo Alto, conquers the palates of the judges at the Canadian competition, who award it top marks
Venta del Moro, 24 October 2022 – We knew the 2020 Manzán had triumphed in Canada with a Grand Gold medal, but great anticipation had been generated among the participants, our importers and wine distributors present at the competition because it was a long time before the Top 50 list was made public.
Finally, we have received the communiqué that includes us in the distinguished list of the 50 top-scoring wines. Manzán has also been named Best in Show in the contest held this year in Montreal.
Manzán is the wine that Casa Lo Alto makes with grapes of the Bobal variety from three plots planted between 1940 and 1965 that we cultivate using gobelet training. We work with sustainable viticulture practices on rainfed vines in shallow chalky clay soils, poor in organic matter.
This wine that has just triumphed in Canada is from 2020, a vintage characterized by low temperatures, with good rainfall in spring and a dry, fungus-free summer, followed by a cool start to autumn. This slowed the ripening of the grapes, which were harvested at the end of September.
Some whole bunches are used in making Manzán. Fermentation begins spontaneously with indigenous yeasts using concrete tanks and French oak vats, where malolactic fermentation is completed. The wine is then aged for 10 months on its lees.
The result is a red wine that reflects the landscape of Casa Lo Alto: a pure wine, which the judges of the Sélections Mondiales des Vins Canada competition have appreciated. They have given it top marks to award it a Grand Gold medal, placing it among the best in the Top 50 list and making it Best in Show in its class.
All this is a great endorsement for Casa Lo Alto‘s estate wines in the Canadian market and throughout North America, with repercussions for other international markets.
The 29th Sélections Mondiales des Vins Canada is the largest international event of its kind in North America in terms of number of samples and countries from outside Europe represented, and it is one of the biggest in the world.