Augalevada "Mercenario" Tinto

Grapes: 40% Caíño Longo, 20% Brancellao, 20% Espadeiro, 15% Sousón, and 5% Caíno da Terra

Region: Galicia, Spain

Vintage: 2020

Viticulture: Organic

Soils: Granite

Vinification: The wine was made with 100% stem inclusion during its thirty-five days of fermentation and was very gently macerated with very light and infrequent extractions.

Aging: After pressing, the wine went into two-thirds 500-liter and 600-liter old barrels, and one-third amphora where it was aged for ten months

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: Minimal added

Notes from the Importer: Iago’s reds are trim, fresh and aromatically delicate with high tones and striking analog nuances. The acidity is always on the higher end in the reds due to the natural characteristics of the indigenous Galician grapes he uses (most low-acidity varieties have come from elsewhere in the last two centuries), and their extraction levels are on the lighter side. In 2019, he began to experiment with stems during fermentation with very good results. Like the whites, the reds can be truly profound. As mentioned earlier in Liquid Inspiration, it’s hard to ignore the direct relationship to Jura reds due to the flor. Some fruit characteristics present a fascinating interplay between Gamay grown in Auvergne and higher-altitude Beaujolais spots, along with Poulsards and Trousseaus from the Jura. However, one notable difference between Ribeiro and Jura is that the bedrock and soil types of Jura are largely composed of various levels of calcareous clays and calcareous rock material that tend to make their wines more rounded, while in Ribeiro granite is king—as with Beaujolais—and it tends to impart more delicacy and elegance with a straighter palate profile.