Vinyer de la Ruca

Manuel Di Vecchi Staraz of Vinyer de la Ruca, is an assiduous Tuscan who cares for a patch of wind-battered, sun-soaked vines a few hundred metres from the salty Mediterannean in the Pyrénées. The old parcels of Grenache, Carignan and Mourvèdre grow wild on sheer shale terraces along walls of dry stone.

Manu tends to the vines by hand with the help of Ullamp, his gorgeous 750+ kg mule. The yields are low, grapes are crushed under foot, de-stemmed by hand, and naturally fermented. The result is a transportive set of wines, evocative of the wild terraces on which their born. All of his wines possess such a concentrated minerality which you can feel as you stomp around the granite outcrops.

Alongside Vinyer de la Ruca, Manu and some friends make the easy-going wines of the Tutti Frutti Ananas label – which we also import. But each of these wines, presented in hand blown glass bottles made from a local artisan, is a work of art. Truly transformative wine.