Manu Michelini


Dominio del Challao, Labastida, Rioja Alavesa, Spain
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Manuel “Manu” Michelini, at only 28 years old, he has already completed 30 consecutive harvests (in both the north & south hemispheres). His father recognized his potential early on and encouraged him to explore wine regions outside of his native Argentina, “to realize that wine comes from more than place, that it is birthed by the people and the culture of that place. It is essential to meet and live among those people to understand why their wine creates such intrinsic and unique pleasures.”
After his first winemaking effort at home, Manu set out to Europe, knocking on doors in Burgundy, Rhône Valley and elsewhere. The few that were welcoming to him, were mentors anyone might wish to have, including Chisa Bize in Savigny-Les-Beaune, Domaine de la Borde in Pupillon, Pierre and Olivier Clape in Cornas, as well as Jean-Marc Roulot and Clarisse Ramonet. They must have seen the same spark in Manu. and collectively, they proved Manu’s father correct and laid an outstanding foundation for his years ahead.
With these bright experiences under his belt, Manu set out for Rioja, after a visit suggested by a friend, he was struck with inspiration. It was here, the unrecognized corner in Labastida became a beacon, where he could use to reflect back onto the world wine scene at the highest level of quality.
And why Rioja for the Grand Cru portfolio? Our door is always open to talented visionaries discovering or pushing new boundaries. Manu Michelini is our door into Rioja, in fact. He launches his first release with us in 2023. We are fortunate to have found some good seats at the start of his show.
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Challao is an indigenous word in Huarpe, an ancient indigenous language in the Uco Valley where Manu was born. There is an abbey in Mendoza that bears this name. It roughly means “place where things grow.” A long way from home, Manu has found his definition (substituting a centuries old syngogue enlieu of an abbey). He chose specifically the plots above and around Labastida, at some of the higest elevation on the Basque (Alavesa) side of the Rio Ebro. Standing in the various small parcels here, one can immediately sense his inspiiration and in a way, its secret held in its seclusion. Being an outsider with bold ambition, Manu expected the trials ahead in accessing vines, either to rent or farm personally. Respectfully he took some time to meet the people and to walk the landscape. He came to meet Carlos Fernandez, a Rioja native in tune with his land making wine with a similar attention to this special village. As in the past in France, Carlos welcomed him to work together in his cellar, spending days learning the history, getting closer to the vernacular of Labastida. Now he works 6ha (2.2 he owns outright, exclusively for the top wine of Challao), across 7 plots, all in perfect aspect to benefit from cooling Atlantic breezes against the well-recognized heat of Rioja. Manu’s vision stems from a term he defines as Modernismo Clássico, inspired by the styles and culture from Rioja’s traditional wines of the early 20th century while slightly revising them, using less aggressive methods, trusting less sulphur and finding more precision. When Carlos; grandfather came tasting from his first cask, Manu was warmed by the reaction. A sigh of relaxation and grin that he was tasting the wines of his youth, the wines his grandfather would have made. This is Manu’s intention, to honor the wines from the distant path, when the land had more of a presence than a winemaker in the glass, only realized now with a modern sense of completeness. It is not to deny the rich history, as the new guy in town, but to celebrate the land as someone new to see it.
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Terroir
Labastida is a remarkable position, where a combe lures the Cantabrian wind coming off the sea funnels over the blinding white calcareous marls. As the mountainside cascades, the land alternates between narrow gorges and short plateaus, halted by walls of overgrown rocky ledges. These outcroppings look over the red- soils below, closer to the river, where the slope smoothes to more gentle, rolling mounds. The terroir here is specific to the effects of soil, elevation and placement under the peak above. In some ways it is too cool for perfect maturation (Las Ginebras) where in the warmest areas, the wind comes in as a relief and mitigation to dehydration and unfavorable ripening. While a traditional map of Rioja divides Alta from Alavesa due to political reasons, Manu draws on a clear distinction that exists between a “côte” (referred by locals of Rioja Sonserrana) that follow a hillside at the foothills of the Sierra Cantabria, and the alluvial flats that have been leveled by the meandering Ebro river (Spain’s longest river). An aerial view gives the easiest reason for hir rationale, as the red and white soils line distinctively on either side. Each of the villages along this edge create a noteworthy signature to the wine, seen in the expressions of some other growers working inline with Manu. Labastida is the most west, just outside Haro, perched well above legendary vineyards like Lopez de Heredia’s Tondonia. The seven sites are these:

Viticulture
Manu and Carlos purchased 2.2 hectares in the village and work to complete six hectares, all worked organically and biodynamically (started the certification path in 2019), and purchase grapes from grape growers. They farm a variety of soils, basically sandy and loam.
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Vinification
The winery is located in the upper portion of the village, in caves that date back to the 12th century ensuring consistent temperature and humidity for wines to age in stable foudres. The wines are pumped over and macerated with 40-50% stems and aged for 22-23 months in new French oak foudres.
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Angelita del Challao
65% Tempranillo co-fermented with Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura, and other rare heirloom varieties. Vinified plot by plot in concrete with indigenous yeasts and 40% foot trodden whole clusters layered on top of uncrushed grapes. The wine was aged in 225L, 500L and 2000L foudres for 10 months. The plots are vinified separately and then blended together to rest for an additional 10 months in concrete, thus 20 months all together.