Fedellos - Lomba dos Ares 2020

An awesome red from Ribiera. It comes from 70-80 year old vines growing on Granitic soils found high up the Val di Bibei near the border with Valdeorras at some 700m above sea level. Whilst predominately Mencia all the old vineyards of this area are inter-planted with other varietals. The resulting wine is light to medium bodied with dark fruits and light spice and game notes. Delicious.

ABOUT FEDELLOS

‘Fedellos’ is a Galician term, meaning brats or young troublemakers and it seems apt for the two friends behind the project who, in a few short years, have leapt to the very top of the Galician wine world. The Fedellos in question are winemakers Jesus Olivares and Curro Barreno, who spent their formative years in the Sierra de Gredos with Comando G and Daniel Landi, before helping to establish themselves in Galicia with their work as consultants to Ronsel do Sil.

The project is based in the wild, cool and remote south-eastern corner of Ribeira Sacra, between the official subregions of Ribeiras do Sil and Quiroga-Bibei (Fedellos) and the unofficial, outside of the DO area around Viana do Bolo (Peixes). Their vineyards are selected to avoid the full sun that strikes the more esteemed terraces on the golden mile of Amandi on the northern bank of the Sil, resulting in lighter, higher acid and lower alcohol wines.

In the winery the Fedellos follow a minimal interventionist path. Fermentations rely on indigenous yeasts only and they prefer to encourage reduction with full lees contact during elevage as a natural method of raising the wine without losing vibrancy to oxidization. After over a year in inert older oak barrels the wines are racked, then bottled without fining or filtration