RP 98

The 2019 Lousas Parcela Seoane was produced with grapes from a very balanced and healthy harvest, picked at 13.4% alcohol. The vines are old, 90% Mencia and some 10% Merenzao, Brancellao, Alicante Bouschet, Grao Negro and Jerez. The soils are mostly gneiss with mica and quartz. It fermented with 90% full clusters that were foot trodden in open plastic bins, without temperature control, with indigenous yeasts and soft punch-downs by hand and with 45 days of maceration. It matured with the lees in 225-, 400- and 500-liter oak barrels for one year. This is from a plot that works better in cooler years than in warm ones, so perfect for 2017 or this 2019. The wine has notes of blood orange and a touch of volatility that lifts it up and gives it freshness. It's vibrant and effervescent with very tasty flavors. This is impressive, a little more unorthodox but really attractive. However, it might not be as long lived. 2,100 bottles were filled in December 2020.

2019 was a balanced and healthy vintage in the Ribeira Sacra, but 2020 was warmer and drier and resulted in their second earliest-ever harvest in the region. They now have three hectares of vineyards (including a small one in Capelinos) and work up to seven, and they are going to expand the winery. They produce between 25,000 and 40,000 bottles depending on the vintage, which in the last few years is very variable. The aim is for 40,000 bottles, but in 2020 yields were catastrophic. There might be two new village wines from 2021, a vintage with good yields again. 2021 is a cool, classical vintage.