Envinate Lousas Vinas de Aldea Tinto 2019

90-95% Mencia, the rest a field blend of grapes grown with the Mencia. 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. Their Lousas Viña de Aldea wine is superb. Lousas is the name, in Galician dialect, or Gallego, for the type of slate soil that predominates in the Amandi sub-zone of the Ribeira Sacra region. Aldea means “village” in Gallego; thus, this is Envínate’s “village wine”, produced from a combination of –minimum- 60-year-old plots located in the ancient vineyard region of Ribeira Sacra. The native vines are grown on steep slopes made of slate and sit in between 400-600 meters elevation. These types of wines are why Mencia is one of our favorite red grapes in the whole world. Enjoy this exquisite wine.