CANÍBAL: THE POWER OF THE ANDALUSIAN SUN, BOTTLED

CANÍBAL Tinto begins in the same three tiny vineyard plots that guests walk through during Antonio Mérida’s tours and tastings. Together they cover less than one hectare at his country house, facing the Mediterranean, and only their grapes go into this wine.

After vinification, the wine rests for 28 months in French oak and then remains in bottle for a further 18 months before release. With an average production of around 600 bottles a year, it is Antonio’s most prestigious, most expensive and most limited wine.

Its name came from a barbecue many years ago. Antonio opened the first version among friends, and they realised that whatever they ate — from the appetisers to the meat — the flavour that stayed in their mouths was the wine. One friend laughed, “This wine is a cannibal; it even eats the meat.” Antonio knew immediately that the name had to stay.