234, The Wine Advocate # 234 - 29th Dec 2017 - Luis Gutiérrez - 2015 4 Kilos • Gallinas y Focas - 2018 - 93+/100 - 2022 - $33

A gentle interpretation of Manto Negro is the 2015 Gallinas y Focas, from organically grown 40-year-old vines on red soils in the villages of Santa María and Binissalem. Most (70%) of the volume fermented in 4,000-liter oak foudre, and the rest in 500-liter barrels with indigenous yeasts, all destemmed but uncrushed, and the grapes undergo a semi-carbonic maceration. The part in the foudre stayed there for six months, and then it was put in 500-liter barrels to complete one year of total élevage. There is no oak to be found in the nose, the wine is delicate, starting with the color and followed by the nose, with very good freshness. They have now focused on freshness rather than structure, and the wine shows it; they also have better understanding of the soils and the behavior of the Manto Negro. Delicious, subtle and elegant. 17,500 bottles were filled in June 2017.