Daniel Ramos, "≈íö≈ì√Ñ Real" 2018

This is a vibrant orange wine with slight, savory edge from Daniel and Pepi Ramos who work ~15 hectares of vines in the Alberche River Valley amongst the Gredos Mountains of Castilla y Léon in Central Spain.

Tasting Notes: A powerful orange wine with beautiful exuberance anchored by a concentration of flavor that dizzies the brain with joy while it mystifies the palate with complexity. Salty, meaty, fruity (beautiful guava, sun-baked apricots, lemon zest), light aromatics mix into weight and body. Like first sighting the zenith on the other end of a mountain's climb.

Vinification: Practicing organic, this is pure Albillo Real from the grape's historic stead here in the Sierra de Gredos where the soil is rich in sand and granite and poor in terms of grape-growing ease. This is hard-won viticulture. The grapes are hand-harvested from ancient vines as old as 200 years (as "young" as 90), and thereafter destemmed, lightly crushed, and put into clay tinajas (amphorae) where they undergo a spontaneous fermentation and slow, 6-month maceration with 4 months under "flor" - a yeast film very similar to the Jura's Voile utilized in that eastern French region's famous Vin Jaune. Unfined, unfiltered, with no additional SO2. 13.5% ABV