Lomba dos Ares - Mencia & Co (Ribeira Sacra)

Mencía, Grao Negro, Negreda, Garnacha Tintorera, Bastardo & Aramón | fieldblend | druiven van granieten terroirs | niet ontsteeld | langzame vergisting zonder veel 'beweging van de hoed' | 10 maanden rijping op hout van 300, 500 en 3200l | lichte kleur | heel puur en delicaat | wijn à la Dani landi / Envinate | veel sap | kersen | kruiden 

Fedellos do Couto & Peixes

Sinds 2013 zijn Curro en Jesús samen met Luis Tobada gestart met hun Fedellos do Couto project. De wijngaarden waar de opbrengsten eerst van werden verkocht wordt hier nu wijn gemaakt. Op de zeven hectare grond die zij bewerken staan soms wel acht tot negen druivenrassen door elkaar! Het gebied Ribeira Sacra staat bekend om zijn prachtige natuur. Scherpe kliffen, riviertjes en beekjes en flinke rotspartijen. Later komen daar wijngaarden in de DO Ribeiro bij op grote hoogte. Karakteristieke wijnen met karakter en puurheid!

Review

The 2021 Lomba dos Ares is a village wine from Manzaneda produced with the field blends of 60+-year-old vines on slate, quartzite, gneiss and granite soils. It fermented with indigenous yeasts and full clusters, had 60 days of maceration and spent 11 months in 500-liter barrels and a 3,200-liter oak foudre. Like the rest of the 2021s, this is more austere, shy, quite concentrated but not immediate, a very complete vintage for the long haul. This wine has a longer élevage and feels serious and harmonious, with a juicy palate and acid berry flavors and the final rocky and austere sensation in the palate. 7,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in December 2022. 94+/100 Luis Gutiérrez

Fedellos do Couto and Peixes have definitely merged into one single project, Fedellos. They work in the Bibei Valley, part inside Ribeira Sacra, part in Valdeorras and part outside the limits, and they sell the wines without appellations. I tasted wines from different vintages. 2020 was not too warm, and the plants had good availability of water from the season; 2021 was cold and rainy, the coldest for them; and 2022 was super dry (more than warm, as Galicia doesn't get as warm as in other parts of Spain). In total, they now produce 40,000 bottles.