Augalevada 2020 Ollos de Roque, Branco

65% Treixadura, 25% Agudelo (Chenin Blanc) and 10% Lado

Galicia, Spain

From the importer:

Ollos de Roque is the flagship of the fazenda. The vines are very young and many of them are grafted onto already quite young rootstocks. All the grapes come from the organic and biodynamically farmed Augalevada vineyard composed completely of granite. It is a mix of Treixadura, Lado and Agudelo. They are pressed directly and spend their fermentations partially in stainless steel at very low temperatures with another part in old oak barrels. The wine is aged in one-third amphora and two-thirds in old, 600-liter and 840-liter oak barrels for ten months. Starting in 2020, ancient 500-liter Jerez barrels (likely over 100 years old) have made it into the cellar and the results are beautiful. The comparison between French oak barrels and Jerez barrels is interesting: My initial observation was that the wines in the Jerez barrels were more cohesive and analog in frequency, while those in the younger (but still completely neutral) oak barrels were a little more edgy. It will be interesting to follow the wines in these old barrels.