Yo Solo

The story behind the name

“Yo Solo” — “I alone” — is the motto on the coat of arms of Bernardo de Gálvez, the Málaga-born general who, in 1781, sailed a small boat alone through British cannon fire to win the Siege of Pensacola. It works on a second level too: only indigenous grapes go in this bottle. No Cabernet, no Syrah — just the near-extinct Andalusian varieties La Melonera spent twenty years bringing back.

In the glass

• Colour — cherry red with violet hints
• Nose — blackberry, plum, black pepper, a spiced edge
• Palate — silky, with ripe, well-integrated tannins
• Finish — long and savoury

The blend shifts each vintage (the 2022 is Tintilla de Rota and Romé). 15% ABV. Nine to twelve months in French Allier oak — there for texture, not heavy oak flavour.

Food pairing

A structured red at 15% wants fat and savour beside it:

• Grilled or slow-roast lamb — the Ronda classic
• Aged Payoyo cheese or a mature Manchego
• Ibérico pork — secreto, presa, pluma
• Game: venison, partridge, or a long-cooked stew

How to serve

• Serve at 16–18°C
• Decant 30–60 minutes — it opens up noticeably
• Use a large-bowled glass
• Drinking well now; the acidity and tannin give it a few years in the rack if you’d rather wait

Why it’s priced where it is

• Around 350 bottles a year
• Up to 95 points from the Peñín Guide — a mark fewer than 150 Spanish wines reach
• A twenty-year grape-recovery project behind every bottle

Not a Wednesday-night red. A bottle you buy for the rarity and the story — and one you genuinely can’t get anywhere else.