Description

Harpers Best Fairtrade Wine and Off Licence News Best Fairtrade Red - announced November 2008. Voted best Fairtrade red by the Independent 27th February 2008: "fabulously rich, velvety wine" and one of the Top Ten New World Reds 13 November 2008: "Carefully made, full-bodied, with rich tastes of autumn fruits on the palate and a long velvety finish. Ideal with steak or seasonal game." This is good, rich Malbec with aromas of plums and blackberries, smooth velvety tannins and plenty of structure. Ideal with meaty stews, steak or duck and a gooey cheese or two!

More information

The logo and name Soluna reflects their mission: the union of the polarities of the sun (sol in Spanish) and the moon (luna) just as Fairtrade bridges the divide between the rich and the poor, between the ‘developed’ and the ‘developing’ world.

In the heart of Mendoza wine country lies Luján de Cuyo, an area where the dry soil and the hot days and cool nights form the perfect conditions for cultivating grapes. Malbec does especially well in Argentina and winemakers Héctor and Pablo Durigutti craft Soluna at the boutique Bodega Furlotti winery.

Wine arrived in Argentina with its earliest Italian immigrants. And for generations Mendoza has been the thriving heart of this new tradition, its landscape dotted with small, family vineyards and wineries. But this heritage has come under threat since the economic crisis of 2001. The smallest growers are being squeezed out by large commercial operations and by rapid development that encroaches on their land and breaks up 80-year-old vineyards into small commercial lots.

In particular, the survival of 'contratistas' – a workforce unique to Argentina's vineyards – is in peril. Contratistas not only maintain the vineyards, they also live on the land with their families. Their income is a percentage of the grape harvest which suffered a significant decline after the peso devaluation. Contratistas are running the risk of extinction, with their numbers decreasing from an estimated 12,000 to a mere 4,000 in the past decade.

Soluna is made exclusively from grapes purchased from Viña de la Solidaridad (Vine of Solidarity), an association of 19 small growers and contratistas committed to preserving this unique working partnership and their small, family-owned vineyards.

Soluna guarantees a minimum fair price for their grapes regardless of the local and global commodity prices and pays an additional social premium that is invested in education, health and other social projects for the benefit of the entire community.

Suitable for Vegetarians

Suitable for Vegans