Envinate Lousas Viñas de Aldea 2021
About the wine:
Region: Ribeira Sacra
Varieties: Mencía, Merenzao, Brancellao, Sousón, Garnacha Tintorera, Mouratón
Practicing organic
Lousa is the name for the slate soil that predominates in the Ribeira do Sil and Amandi subzones of the Ribeira Sacra region. The slate serves a great purpose, heating up during the daytime sun to help the grapes ripen, as well as imparting the minerality and intensely floral and spicy aromatics that are the trademarks of the Ribeira Sacra region’s wines. Aldea means “village” in the Galician dialect. In addition to focusing on single parcel wines, Envínate produces village wines in each region where they work.
For their village wine, the Mencía and other co-planted grapes were hand-harvested, fermented 100% whole cluster with wild yeasts in open top plastic tubs with 25-40 days maceration (except Souson, which sees only 7 days), then raised in used 300 and 400 liter French oak for 11 months with no racking. A touch of SO2 is added only at bottling, and the finished wine sees no fining or filtration.
About the producers:
Envínate (translates as "wine yourself") is the brainchild of 4 friends, winemakers Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos, and José Martínez. This gang of 4 formed back in 2005 while studying enology at the University of Miguel Hernandez in Alicante. Upon graduation, they formed a winemaking consultancy, which evolved into Envínate, a project that focuses on exploring distinctive parcels mainly in the Atlantic-inflected regions of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands. Their collective aim is to make profoundly pure and authentic wines that express the terruño of each parcel in a clear and concise manner. To this end, no chemicals are used in any of the Envínate vineyards, all parcels are picked by hand, the grapes are foot-trodden, and the wines are fermented exclusively with wild yeasts, with a varying proportion of whole grape clusters included. For aging, the wines are raised in old barrels and concrete, and sulfur is only added at bottling, if needed. The results are some of the most exciting and honest wines being produced in Spain today.