{"title":"La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells its own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"malas-uvas-2021-la-perdida","title":"Malas Uvas 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eEighty percent Palomino, twenty percent Doña Blanca, from old low-yielding vines on granite and clay close to As Ermitas. After destemming, a short maceration on skins for a week in vats, with some punching down of the cap, then pressing to Padilla tinajas to finish fermentation and rest on the lees for around five months over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRadiant in the glass, with an almost pineapple hue. We find the savoury tropical splash of Dona Branca and the saline, chlorophyllic spice of Palomino. In the mouth there’s great density, mineral compression, and taut line of acidity that brings a bowstring tension to the juice. After 4 years in the cellar, this is really singing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003ePalomino is not a permitted variety under the Valdeorras DO regulations, and here in the rugged interior of northwest Spain, it certainly feels a long way from home. It was first planted in Galicia post phylloxera, when its high yields and compatibility with american rootstocks made it a preference among local growers. Under Franco (who was himself Gallego), the variety became even more ubiquitous, overtaking indigenous Godello. Its high yields suited the co-operative, volume driven agriculture model of the regime, which promoted the production of cheap wine for bulk export. These associations with Franco linger, and most producers in the DO have grubbed it up or left the old plantings abandoned. By the time Nacho started making wine, these surviving plantings of Palomino were now many decades old, not sprayed with chemicals, growing wild among the grasses and shrubs in abandoned plots. Over time, they adapted to the challenging conditions that vines endure in Galicia's interior and became almost naturalised, with at least three distinct mutations identified. These vines produce tiny yields of concentrated juice, with the roots reaching deep into the granite. Here in the cool altitude of Valdeorras, the palomino retains acidity right through to harvest, while the quartz rich granite reflects heat onto the bunches ripening the phenolics in the thick skins of the berries. Dona Branca is more at home here in Valdeorras, it being a star in the vast constellation of indigenous varieties that grow here in the northwest of the Iberian penninsula. Thick-skinned, it brings a crisp-fruited aromatic lift and a bright acidity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalas Uvas means \"bad grapes.\" Palomino on granite, at very low yield, with skin contact and amphora ageing, is not the prescribed practice in Valdeorras. This wine makes us wonder why!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Palomino, Doña Blanca\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988703891794,"sku":"22\/003820","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-malas-uvas-2021.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"o-pando-orange-2021-la-perdida","title":"O Pando Orange 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eGodello Viejo from the O Pando vineyard. Planted in the 60s on sandy granite soils, these give incredibly low yields of small, tight-fisted bunches. The fruit was destemmed, before 5 days of skin contact in vats. After pressing, the wine aged in Padilla tinaja, with a portion of the skins submerged in the fermenting juice over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes of wild fennel, ginger, parsley stems, tepache, and propolis, the palate is drenched with minerals, and we find the fleshy, savoury fruitiness that is the signature of this older clone of Godello.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eValdeorras sits in the Sil river valley in the province of Ourense, where the river cuts through the mountains of interior Galicia on its way west toward the Atlantic cutting an operatic landscape of valleys, terraces and hills. The dominant geology is pizarra, the dark fractured slate that defines the best parcels in the valley, breaking down slowly into thin, mineral, free-draining soils that force vines deep for water and give the wines their characteristic saline, stony character. O Pando sits on granite and clay rather than slate, at around 500 metres, which gives Nacho's Godello more body and textural weight than wines fro the valley floor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGodello was brought back from near-extinction in the 1970s by a small group of local producers who found surviving plants in abandoned vineyards and used them to repopulate the region. The vines they saved were old, low-yielding plants, selected over generations for their ability to survive in these soils rather than for commercial output. The clones subsequently grown were selected for higher yields, ripen more evenly, and give less concentrated juice. Old vine Godello viejo from parcels like O Pando produces small quantities of thick-skinned, concentrated fruit that behaves differently in the cellar. Those thick skins allow for these long macerations in tinaja(though they're not commonplace by any means), with enough tannins and material extract in the fruit to stay the coarse and create a wine of substance and complexity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Godello\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704252242,"sku":"1700007","price":38.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/original_721c8ec9-f455-4aab-bee4-21f0522d5ac1.jpg?v=1791451437"},{"product_id":"o-poulo-2021-la-perdida","title":"O Poulo 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eGarnacha Tintorera from the O Poulo vineyard, with a dash of Palomino that grows in the bottom corner of the site. 80-year-old, low-yielding vines on slate. The destemmed fruit begins fermentation on skins in open vats. Nacho removes the materials by hand as fermentation progresses. This helps keep a balanced extraction, with Nacho preferring his reds to have structure and substance but also good drinkability. The juice is then pressed into old chestnut and French oak barrels to finish fermentation and rest over winter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA deep inky purple from the Garnacha Tintorera, but with that subtle freshness and salinity of Palomino. Light on the palate, but with firm tannins, that hit of pink peppercorn spice, and resonant minerality on the finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eGarnacha Tintorera is a teinturier variety, meaning its pulp is red-pigmented rather than just its skins. This was what gave the variety its historical value as a blending tool, adding colour to high-volume wines of the Franco era. It was planted widely across Spain under his regime for exactly that purpose, and has been largely treated as a workhorse grape. In Valdeorras, Nacho's old-vine parcels are among the very few places it is being taken seriously as a variety in its own right. O Poulo takes its name from a Galician word meaning uncultivated or marginal land, which describes this dramatic, exposed site at 650 metres of elevation. The progressive skin removal technique he uses here is distinct from carbonic maceration and from conventional extraction, capturing early aromatic lift and colour without accumulating the tannin that extended whole-berry fermentation would give. The Palomino in this wine grows in the bottom corner of the vineyard, so this is a single-vineyard wine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Garnacha Tintorera, Palomino\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704317778,"sku":"1700009","price":39.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-o-poulo-2021.jpg?v=1793699100"},{"product_id":"proscrito-2021-la-perdida","title":"Proscrito 2021 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is Palomino with a dash of Garnacha Tintorera, from old vines. Destemmed, co-fermented on skins for about five days in vats, then pressed to old chestnut and French oak barrels to rest over winter. 11.5%.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSomewhere between cherry red and pale copper, this is a true mountain clarete, with an impressive nose of green tomato, rose petal, pomegranate, and cherry stone spice. A nervy acidity steers the palate, with saline sapidity and a light brush tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth the varieties in Proscrito sit outside the Valdeorras DO's permitted variety list, which is where the name(outlaw) comes from. Palomino was planted across Galicia under Franco for high-yield bulk production and Garnacha Tintorera was planted for similar reasons, with its pigmented pulp useful for adding colour to cheap blends. The majority of these vines have been pulled up or left to abandonment. Nacho works with these old plantings, producing small quantities of concentrated fruit the DO has no use for, which is a irony of sorts. The clarete style itself is an old Iberian tradition, distinct from rosé in that the red and white grapes are co-fermented together, just as they grow together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Palomino \/ Garnacha Tintorera\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 15%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54988704678226,"sku":"22\/003822","price":36.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-proscrito-2021-2020.jpg?v=1793699099"},{"product_id":"proscrito-2020-la-perdida","title":"Proscrito 2020 - La Perdida","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is Palomino with a dash of Garnacha Tintorera, from old vines. Destemmed, co-fermented on skins for about five days in vats, then pressed to old chestnut and French oak barrels to rest over winter. 11.5%.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSomewhere between cherry red and pale copper, this is a real mountain clarete, with an impressive nose of green tomato, rose petal, pomegranate, and cherry stone spice. A nervy acidity steers the palate, with saline sapidity and a light brush of tannins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe producer\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of Nacho's parcels around Larouco lay abandoned before he restored them to health, hidden among bush or mountain trails. These untrellised vines, planted in the early-mid 20th century, tell us much about the fascinating viticultural history of this rugged, dramatic landscape. Nacho began making wine in Larouco, close to his grandmother's home in Seadur, after she gifted him a parcel of vines just outside the village. That was in 2013. Since then, Nacho left his career as a biologist behind, becoming immersed in his winemaking project and his mission to preserve these old vineyards and varieties by showcasing their quality. In the face of encroaching pressures to conform to market demands and the homogenising prescriptions of industrial farming, Nacho has stood firm, an iconoclast of sorts, and persevered in making thrilling, terroir-driven wines, that tell an almost forgotten story of this region's fascinating history. Many of the sites are dramatic and remote, a quality that often finds an uncanny expression in Nacho's wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNacho farms 5 hectares or so in total, mostly old untrellised vines on granite, slate, and clay between 450 and 650 metres. Farming is organic in practice, with some biodynamic and mycological preparations with nettle, horsetail, and comfrey infusions replacing conventional sprays, and fungal preparations are applied to restore soil biology on parcels that had been left to degrade. He has declined organic certification as the scheme permits some chemical use in the vineyards (certification is also costly). Having spent a month working with Nacho during the 2021 harvest, the rich biodiversity among his vines tells it’s own story.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis cellar in Larouco is as lofi as it gets... Gravity carries the juice from the press to a basement where padilla tinajas, old barrels, and stainless tanks are preferred to finish fermentation and age the wines. Everything rests on its lees through winter and is bottled the following spring without fining or filtration. La Perdida means \"the lost.\" Nacho chose the name for the vineyards themselves, most of which had disappeared into the landscape, forgotten to all but the well-trained eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe place\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth the varieties in Proscrito sit outside the Valdeorras DO's permitted variety list, which is where the name(outlaw) comes from. Palomino was planted across Galicia under Franco for high-yield bulk production and Garnacha Tintorera was planted for similar reasons, with its pigmented pulp useful for adding colour to cheap blends. The majority of these vines have been pulled up or left to abandonment. Nacho works with these old plantings, producing small quantities of concentrated fruit the DO has no use for, which is a irony of sorts. The clarete style itself is an old Iberian tradition, distinct from rosé in that the red and white grapes are co-fermented together, just as they grow together.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGrapes:\u003c\/strong\u003e Palomino \/ Garnacha Tintorera\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRegion:\u003c\/strong\u003e Larouco, Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABV:\u003c\/strong\u003e 12%\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"La Perdida","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55040265617746,"sku":"00054","price":32.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/files\/bw-proscrito-2021-2020.jpg?v=1793699099"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1116\/0246\/7154\/collections\/la-perdida--i109.jpg?v=1793699954","url":"https:\/\/www.brianswines.ie\/collections\/la-perdida.oembed","provider":"Brian's Wines","version":"1.0","type":"link"}