AS XARA, FEDELLOS DO COUTO

This juicy Mencía with fine chalky tannins is a blend of two sites on opposite sides of the River Xares. Whole bunch fermentation and a gentle two month maceration brings out the floral aromatics.

Fedellos loosely translates as "Brats", and Couto refers to the 12th century manor in Ribeira Sacra at the heart of the vineyards. It's a young project, started in 2013 by winemakers Curro Barreño and Jesús Olivares and Luis Taboada (whose family has owned the Couto manor for generations). They lease a small selection of vineyards which are farmed organically and worked by hand - you couldn't do otherwise on these steep terraces! The vines are planted on terraces along the steep slopes of the rivers Sil and Bibei, with a myriad of grape varieties, altitudes, and expositions. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts and whole bunches, at low temperatures to favour a gentle extraction of colour and phenolics. All the wines share an Atlantic freshness and a slatey minerality that make these wines unmistakably Galician.