La Senda
Bierzo, Spain
Diego Losada is producing beautiful Mencia-based wines in Bierzo, an Atlantic coastal Spanish region located in the northwest province of León. Bierzo is primarily known for these Mencía-based wines, which are characterized by plenty of fruit and spice character with wonderful acidity. Bierzo is also an important stop for travelers who walk the Camino de Santiago. Here the travel-weary pilgrim will find hearty food and much-needed repose before crossing the Cantabrian Mountains. Diego is in many ways a fellow pilgrim, in search of the “Atlantic” in his wines, and even named his project La Senda, which translates to “the path” or “the way” in Spanish.
At university Diego played in bands as a musician but also studied organic chemistry and first came to understand wine through a scientific lens. Eventually he turned to the open-ended and intuitive philosophy of natural winemaking and growing, which was at odds with his rigid training. He worked at a few larger wineries in the region but decided that he needed to make wine his own way.
After taking over and converting 3 small parcels to organics he bottled his first wine with the 2013 vintage. He currently rents 15 parcels totaling just over 5 hectares, focusing on bush-trained vines with at least 60 years of age planted on clay-limestone soils. His sites are relatively isolated from other vineyard land and other farmers so that chemical treatments used elsewhere won’t taint his soils. Diego is working organically with incredibly low yields (1.5kg per vine) and takes a more intuitive approach to the vines, as opposed to the more structured and rigid systems large wineries adopt. The vineyards are interplanted with red and white grapes and Diego picks and ferments them together.
In the cellar Diego is working almost completely without modern equipment (no pump, almost no sulfur at all). He uses a mix of unlined concrete vats, older oak and chestnut casks & foudres. He eschews the use of stainless still as he feels it kills the nature within his wine. Diego believe that wine should be made from just grapes, stating that, “enological products are cogs in the capitalist machine.” Diego views his winemaking as an extension of the creative process that he practiced in his days as a musician. He is part of a new generation of Spanish vigneron making salty wines from co fermentations of white and red grapes with incredible energy and life to them. We are so excited to have these wines in Manitoba.
2018 “Vindemiatrix”
The gateway into the fascinating world of La Senda is sourced from 7 old-vine parcels in the hills surrounding the village of Hervededo. Most of the parcels are red and white grapes inter-planted, so Diego co-ferments the different native grape varieties, as was done in the past. In this case, the blend is 80% Mencía (red), 10% Palomino (white) and 10% Doña Blanca (white). The soils are mainly clay and limestone, and the elevation is around 550 meters. The grapes are partially destemmed, macerated for a few weeks, and fermented and raised in unlined concrete tanks. The finished wine is bottled without fining or filtration, and only minimally-added SO2. Refreshing, powerful and mineral, with red fruit intensity and woven flavors of earth, smoke, and spice.
2018 “1984”
Sourced from 3 old-vine Mencia vineyards in the hills of Priaranza del Bierzo, in the southwest part of the appellation. The vines are 70-90 years old and planted on clay soils over slate at 650 meters elevation, some of the highest vineyards in Bierzo. The grapes are partially destemmed, macerated for a week in 3 large oak casks. The wine is then transferred to small barrels to finish fermentation, then aged for 8 months. The finished wine is bottled without fining, filtration and only minimal SO2 addition. Crushed cherries, orange zest, lavender, and incense, with an iron-like structure and mouth-watering acidity.
Retail
Boutique del Vino at Piazza de Nardi
Ellement Wine & Spirits
Jones & Co Wine Merchants
Kenaston Wine market
Winehouse
