Camino de los Arrieros 2022

Camino de los Arrieros is made by Alvar de Dios Hernandez in D.O. Arribes, a remote zone on the Spanish Portuguese border in Castilla y Leon. After working in several wineries, Alvar de Dios built his own project around the old vines his grandfather kept in the village of El Pego, farming organically and biodynamically in a classic, low intervention style. The wine blends the local Rufete and Juan Garcia with other native varieties from these old vineyards. Arribes has poor granite and slate soils and a continental climate moderated by the deep river canyons, conditions that, with the old vines' naturally low yields, give pale, fresh and aromatic wines rather than dark, heavy ones. The wine is aged ten months in French oak barrels, a gentle elevage that softens the tannins through slow oxygen exchange while keeping the delicate fruit and floral character intact. It is light bodied and slightly rustic in the best sense, with red berry and redcurrant fruit, white flowers, pepper and a thyme like herbal note over fine tannins. Serve lightly chilled at around 14 to 15C; it suits poultry, pork and lighter dishes.