Tanuki Bob

Coming across a single-variety Manto negro wine is always great news, but if this wine has been touched by the magic wand of the team at the 4 Kilos Vinícola winery in Felanitx, then the news is even more exciting. For this project they have worked with the Amadip Esment Foundation, a body working to improve the quality of life and promote equal opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities.

Tanuki is the Japanese name for the raccoon dog, an animal which forms an important part of the ancestral culture of Japan, and is a symbol of good luck and prosperity. The winery describes the Tanuki Bob wine as "an easy-going, cheeky, and mischievous animal that likes to do nothing better than to eat, drink, and scratch its tummy".

The whole grapes undergo a semi-carbonic maceration in 4,000-litre oak foudres and the resulting wine then spends nine months in these casks. It then stands in stainless steel tanks for a further nine months before being bottled. The grape vines are cultivated ecologically in a pebble-laden reddish soil (reminding us of Châteauneuf-du-Pape) with a covering of vegetation to encourage the variety and richness of the life found there.

With a pale and bright ruby red colour, this wine gives off energy. The way the light reflects on it shows off its vigour and verticality. It has aromas of mountain herbs, wild strawberries, liquorice, shrubs and stones. When being consumed, it is agile but complex; tannic, fresh, and tempting. It has hints of Burgundy wines, or even Galician ones; flowery, ethereal, and seductive, from a rustic base.