2024 Doble Pasta Manchuela Garnacha/Tintorera, Cien Y Pico

• Style: Dark, concentrated full-bodied red
• Taste: Black cherry, plum, blackberry compote, violet, liquorice, cocoa
• Food: Game, rich stews, dark chocolate desserts
• Occasion: Weeknight; Sunday Lunch
• Serve: 16–18°C, decant 20 mins
• ABV: 14%

In the Glass — Tasting Notes

Dark, full-bodied and built for the table: black cherry and plum darkened by blackberry compote, violet florals and a savoury whisper of liquorice and cocoa. Firm, polished tannins frame the wine without harshness; acidity runs clean through the middle, holding everything in balance. This is serious drinking from the high plateau of Manchuela, where ancient, ungrafted vines at 1,000 metres above sea level concentrate every ounce of flavour into tiny clusters.

The Winery — Cien y Pico

Four winemakers—Australian Zar Brooks, his Bulgarian wife Elena Golakova Brooks, Spaniard Luis Juminez García and Italian Nicola Tucci—founded this project to preserve 19th-century vineyard parcels that many growers would have uprooted for EU subsidies. The name 'Hundred and something' honours the age of these vines on their own roots. The 2024 vintage brought ideal conditions: abundant winter moisture to build vine strength, then summer heat tempered by careful management and a clean, dry harvest. The Doble Pasta method—must fermented over additional grape skins before traditional vinification with new French oak—built the concentration and structure that makes this wine sing alongside rich autumn and winter fare.

At Your Table — Food Pairing & Serving

Pair this with game—venison, wild duck, dark-meat birds—or anything slow-cooked and richly sauced. A slice of dark chocolate or cocoa-forward dessert will echo the wine's own spice and depth. This sits naturally within our selection of Spain's finest full-bodied red wines, where old-vine intensity meets modern technique. Their quiet stewardship in Castilla-La Mancha speaks to why these ancient vines still have stories to tell.