Machoman - Casa Rojo
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Region: Murcia, Spain
Grape: Monastrell
Tasting: Black cherry / Plum / Cassis / Rosemary / Thyme / Woodsmoke / Soft tannin / Full bodied / Long finish
Pairing: Slow-roast Lumina lamb shoulder / Grilled Ibérico secreto / Txistorra sausages / Cinco Jotas Ibérico salchichón / Mature Pecorino Toscano
Producer: Casa Rojo was started in 2009 by José Luis Gómez and Laura Muñoz, both trained oenologists, and it began without a winery or a single vine to its name — an itinerant project that goes to whichever part of Spain a grape belongs in and works with the growers already there. Every bottle carries its own illustrated character, which is how most people find their way back to them: the lobster, the opera singer, the surrealist. Machoman is the Monastrell, from old goblet-trained bush vines on the high plateau at Paraje de La Raja, between the El Carche and La Pila mountains — shallow chalky soil, no irrigation, and yields kept down to around two tonnes a hectare. It ferments in stainless steel and French oak vats, spends six months in French barrels and a period in Italian clay amphorae, which is what keeps the fruit as direct as it is under the smoke and the scrubland herbs. We also stock The Ham Factory and the La Marimorena Albariño from the same house.
2021 vintage: A hot, dry year in the south-east — less summer rain than 2020 and warm nights that stressed the younger vines. September rain came in time to rehydrate the fruit, and the old dry-farmed bush vines, which regulate themselves, rode it out. The crop was down about 13%, and the wine is a touch less concentrated than 2020 but better balanced for it, with firmer acidity.
ABV: 14.5%
Vol: 75cl
Allergens: Contains sulphites
