Peixe da Rocha, Peixes 2019

Peixes da Rocha comes from 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 60-80- 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.

Peixes is the most recent 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. Located at 600-850 metres above sea level, these are some of the highest vineyards in Galicia . At this altitude the grapes don’t ripen easily and many of the sites had been abandoned.  The 60-80 year-old gobelet trained vines grow along sinuous stone terraces. They are field blends of Mencía, Mouraton, Grao Negro, Garnacha Tintorera, Bastardo and Sousón which include 10-15% of white varietals Godello, Dona Blanca, Colgadeira and Palomino. 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.