Fedellos do Couto Peixes Da Rocha 2019

Peixes da Rocha is a red wine made with Mouratón, Mencía, Red Grenache, Grao Negro and Godello from the highest vineyards, located at around 850 metres, all planted on granitic soils in the villages of Punxeiro and Santa Marina de Froixais, the highest and coldest and in essence the most ‘extreme’ area around Viana do Bolo. The vineyards are planted with a field blend of 60- to 80-year-old Mencía, Mouraton, Grao Negro, Garnacha Tintorera, Bastardo, Sousón and around 10-15% of the blend is white grapes: Godello, Doña Blanca, Colgadeira and Palomino which are pruned in a gobelet style and grow along wide stone terraces. After the manual harvest, the grapes ferment with native yeasts and are aged for 12-months in used French oak barrels.

Peixes is a project of Jesús Olivares and Curro Bareño (also behind Fedellos de Couto in Ribeira Sacra and Ca' di Mat in Sierra de Gredos). Curro and Jesús discovered old vineyard sites around the town Viana do Bolo, which is almost encircled by Valdeorras but not part of the DO. Farming is a mix of organic and sustainable. Jesús and Curro work six hectares themselves, by hand, and with growers who manage a further two hectares. The winemaking is quite hands off: they use whole clusters, long macerations and cool fermentations with indigenous yeasts. Wines are matured in large neutral oak and bottled without fining or filtration.