Vides Singulares, Amnos dei Barrica, Treixadura, VdT Val de Miño-ourense, Galicia, Spain, 2020

Producer Profile

Vides Singulares was born out of a search for purpose, to enjoy what matters, to re-connect with nature and maybe even make a difference...

however in the process Raul and Maite have also managed to make some truly exceptional wines. Seeking out and rescuing indigenous varieties and vineyards abandoned due to rural depopulation; they are also managing to reinvigorate the social environment in which the vineyards are located, though a wine tourism project, bringing their concept full circle. Their labour of love started with just 2.7 hectares of old bush vine vineyard, located across several plots in Ávila, planted with predominantly pre-phylloxera Grenache, Albillo and Verdejo. The meticulous process of recovering the vines from the encroaching forest, decades of poor pruning and disease was costly in terms of both money and time, yet gradually vines were revived, the soils carefully ploughed and these precious old vines have once again been brought back into production. Their discovery continued with recovering 2 hectares of vineyards in the Sierra de Gredos, with a focus on low yielding, old bush vine Garnacha and Albillo Real in the old winery of Cebreros; here in the Alberche Valley, the poor soil marked with decomposed granite and slate produces highly expressive and singular expressions of the varieties. Their search took them to a third region, the spectacular Ribeira Sacra in the Val Do Miño where their main purpose built winery is located along with a further 4 hectares of vines. Here are in their other vineyards, nature’s cycle and biodynamics govern their daily work and now the vineyards are beginning to more than repay the attention they’ve received, with increased vigour across all varieties (Godello, Albariño, Loureira and Mencia) and incredibly fruit expression transmitted through the granite shale terroir.

Viticulture

From trellised vineyard, within the IGP Val de Miño-Ourense with fruit coming from 45-year-old vines. The winery makes use of natural compost and the land is worked as ecologically as possible. This wine speaks of its specific terroir, from two parcels located in the town of Ferreiros, where all of the vineyard work is carried out by hand.

Winemaking

After the manual harvest the grapes are sorted by hand in the vineyard and then again at the winery. Grapes are de-stemmed and then fermented with native yeasts with a 3 days maceration period. The fermentation lasts for 15 days in 5000 litre stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature. Aged in old French oak barrels for 6 months. The wine has not been stabilised of clarified, so it is very much a natural wine.

Oak Ageing

Time: 6 Months
Type: 400 and 500 Litre French Oak
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

This 100% Treixadura has a vibrant greenish yellow colour, with fresh fruit notes of apple, pear as well as lemon. This is a fresh, unctuous, flavoursome wine, well balanced with plenty of acidity.

Food Matching

Pair this with white meats, smoked fish and seafood.

Awards

James Suckling 93 Points
Very perfumed nose, full of jasmine, honeysuckle and some salted lemon and green plum. Structured, flavorful and tight on the palate. A serious, textured orange wine. Drink now. 93 Points, JS, June 2022.
Jancis Robinson 16.5 Points
Very intense with almost a muscat note and so much fruit crammed in. Essence of Treixadura? Peachy but with grip. 16.5 Points, JR, April 2022.