“La Loma” (1,4 hectares) was planted in 1946. It is located southwest of the municipality of Briones, at an altitude of 534 meters above sea level. It was planted according to the traditional “vaso” (bush) method on an east-facing slope of up to 7%, with a planting grid of 1,50 m by 1,80 m, which is approximately 3 vines per hectare. The soil is quite poor, mainly calcareous with a gravel substrate, suitable for good drainage, which causes the roots to go very deep to assimilate the minerals of the soil. This type of soil will produce fresh, subtle and elegant wines. The subsoil of "La Loma" is also crossed by a ferrous and clayey silt which gives the wine a good body and a tannic character.
Three varieties were planted at “La Loma”: the Garnacha Blanca (which we used for our Miguel Merino Blanco), and the red Garnacha Tinta and Tempranillo, which were grafted onto Rupestris de Lot rootstocks, very suitable for soil characteristics and most compatible with Garnacha vines.
Vinification: 2019 was a low yielding vintage, mainly due to a light frost in early May and a very dry and hot spring. The harvest was done by hand in small crates and all the grapes were reviewed at the sorting table. Cold maceration for 3 days before starting the fermentation, which took place in a small temperature-controlled stainless steel tank. Throughout the process, our goal was to respect the subtle personality of this vineyard.
Aging: After fermentation, the wine was transferred to 3 barrels of 500 liters of Frech oak and 1 barrel of 225 of Austrian oak, where the malolactic fermentation developed spontaneously. In total, the wine rested for 15 months in barrels.
Bottling: We have filled 2 bottles of our fifth edition of La Loma, the 186 vintage.