Vides Singulares, Con-Sentido Albillo Real, DOP Cebreros, Spain, 2019

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

Grapes come from several selected plots in located in the Alberche de Cebreros valley where the soil is mostly granitic or a silt-sandy texture, and the 50 to 70 year old bush vines are at an elevation of between 800 and 850m. The vineyards are managed naturally, without the use of herbicides.

Winemaking

Manually harvested, the grapes are 100% de-stemmed and fermented with native yeasts in 3,000 litre stainless steel tanks. There is a pre-fermentative maceration on the skins and a natural decanting for 24 hours. The wine is then removed from the fine lees on its way to resting in 3000 litre fudre and then aged for 6 months in used 400 and 650 litre French oak barrels. Bottled un-fined.

Oak Ageing

Time: 6 Months
Type: 400 and 650 Litre French Oak
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

An excellent expression of Ablillo Real, this is a little balsamic, with notes of dried white flowers and almonds. It's unctuous but coupled with citrus notes, some salinity and delicate twist of bitterness to lift the finish.

Food Matching

Stuffed piquillo peppers and snapper sashimi.

Awards

James Suckling 92 Points
A pure and nimble albillo, showing nuanced green fruit, flint and some grapefruit. Slightly neutral, but the creamy texture and the nice phenolic bite in the medium- bodied palate are impressive. There is a twist of mineral austerity in the finish, too. Imprressive. Drink Now. 92 Points, JS, June 2022.