Unique in the World
Since the discovery of 200 Jampal strains in 2007, MANZWINE has been multiplying materials and planting new vineyards, betting on the perfect combination between Cheleiros terroir and this variety to produce what is still today the ONLY WINE IN THE WORLD certified as 100% Jampal!
Production has been increasing little by little with the increase of the planted area, without compromising quality and personality!
Depending on the harvest, production can vary between 5000 and 9000 bottles, carefully distributed in the 26 countries where it is sold, almost always in top restaurants and wine cellars, for a client who likes unique and differentiated wines.
Discovering Jampal
André Manz bought an abandoned vineyard in Cheleiros to make wine for himself and his friends. A commercial project was far from his ambitions at the time.
On the first visit to the vineyard with an oenologist and agronomist, 200 vines of a variety were discovered which nobody was able to identify… with the help of technicians from the Instituto da Vinha e do Vinho (Vine and Wine Institute) the variety’s name was identified: JAMPAL!
“It is an autochthonous Portuguese variety, characteristic here in the region, but it was abandoned because it was not profitable… very sensitive, it requires a more expensive pruning and produces little quantity… we might as well just bet on the reds and forget about it”.
André replied that he did not need much wine and that he would like to experiment vinifying this variety. Thus began the journey…
A unique wine
The only wine in the world made 100% from the Jampal grape variety. Due to the enormous vinic quality of this caste, the result could only be fantastic. Unctuousness and good body harmonized by a firm acidity, in a fresh, aromatic, persistent and involving set.
Considered by Julia Harding among the 50 best wines of 2010. The distinguished British wine critic compares it to a “delicate Gewürz” in the nose, with better acidity and more citrus fruit, referring in the mouth to a “Chenin from the Loire”. The name Dona Fátima is a simple homage to André’s mother-in-law, Fátima do Carmo.
The unveiling
With an effective word of mouth, curiosity grew about the result of this grape that nobody knew and that no other producer vinified as a varietal, according to the IVV. Although it could exist mixed in old vineyards…
Finally, the wine was ready, and the result started to surprise everyone! The way the marine fossils and the shells in the soil of the Cheleiros hillsides were reflected in the wine was something fabulous, but at the same time the low yield of the vines guaranteed a depth and elegance that made the wine a serious case…
Motivated by the IVV technicians, oenologists and friends, André Manz realized that we had discovered something and set about identifying the healthiest strains for the multiplication of material, with a view to the recovery of this grape variety!
The recognition
It didn’t take long for the Buzz around this (re)discovery to start reaching national and international critics, but it was in 2011 that Julia Harding MW distinguished our Dona Fátima 100% Jampal as one of the 50 Best Wines of Portugal (among whites, reds, rosés, Port, Moscatel, sparkling wines…) and catapulted the Jampal grape variety internationally.
Since then, sommeliers and wine critics from all over the world have praised the elegance, character, honesty of terroir, the quality of our Dona Fátima 100% Jampal and the courage of MANZWINE for betting in the recovery of a Portuguese wine heritage that was on the verge of extinction.
International Highlights
