Envínate Lousas Ribeira Sacra 2023

Envínate is Laura, Jose, Roberto, and Alfonso, friends from university, who are obsessed with Spain’s ancient, Atlantic-battered terroirs. Their mission is simple: find a forgotten parcel of vines, and let it speak for itself. 

This is their village wine from Ribeira Sacra, a place so steep the slate soil is called Lousa, a rock that heats by day and breathes a cool, floral, stony energy into the grapes by night. It’s a wild field blend of Mencía, Merenzao, Brancellao, and others, all co-planted on slopes that plunge into the Sil River.

The 2023 vintage is a total knockout of a vintage (it was a hot, dry year, which just concentrated everything). It’s so perfumed and fragrant (dried roses, violets, crushed black pepper, pomegranate, wild strawberry) with this electric, flinty smoke running through it. It's almost giving Northern Rhône Syrah vibes... The palate is all crystalline energy: salty-mineral, packed with peppery tannins. 

Pair with grilled octopus with smoked paprika, charcoal-roasted lamb, or a bowl of garlicky lentils on a stormy night.