Features
Type of wine
Pairings
Style
Occasions
Winery
Size
Appellation
Alcohol
13.0%
Grapes
Serving
Between 14ºC and 16ºC
Winemaking
Aged for 6 months in 500 liter French oak demi-muids.
Description
In the mist of the upper Miño, where the vineyards overlook the rivers and the mists seem to protect the vines like an ancestral veil, Castro Candaz was born. This project is the fruit of a friendship forged between two of the most brilliant minds in Galician wine: Raúl Pérez, indomitable genius of the Bierzo, and Rodrigo Méndez, custodian of the old vines of the Salnés. Their common vision was clear: to rescue the subtle, mineral elegance of the forgotten vineyards in the Chantada sub-zone, within the Ribeira Sacra DO.
Here, on terraces of slate, clay and granite, where the roots must fight for every centimetre of depth, wines are born that seem to emerge more from the rock than from the fruit. The varieties are indigenous and respected to the extreme: Mencía, Garnacha Tintorera, Mouratón, and a hint of Brancellao or Sousón depending on the vintage. The grapes are harvested by hand, with an almost heroic effort, because the slopes do not allow anything else. The philosophy is one of minimum intervention, maximum expression. Raúl and Rodrigo do not seek to impose their style, but to liberate the purest voice of the place.
An anecdote that defines their character: in one of the first vintages, they decided not to release one of the wines, despite the expectation, because they felt that the vintage was not faithful to the profile they were looking for. In a market hungry for novelties, they decided to keep quiet. Silence, in this case, was the strongest statement of their integrity.
Winemaking
The grapes destined for Castro Candaz, after a strict selection in the vineyard, are partially destemmed and fermented in open vats with indigenous yeasts. There are no corrections, no artifices. Extraction is minimal, almost timid, as if they were afraid of hurting the delicacy of the fruit. After malolactic fermentation, the wine is transferred to used French oak barrels, where it rests for 12 to 14 months, depending on the wine, without racking or fining. At all times, the intervention is just the right amount, the minimum necessary. The wine is bottled unfiltered, and each bottle looks like a capsule of Galician landscape, bottled in silence.
Taste
The first impact of Castro Candaz is of earthy subtlety, of that austere minerality that only slate can provide. There is no fruity explosion or wood make-up: there is transparency, truth, the humid silence of the Atlantic forest. The Mencía expresses itself here with a nose of sour red fruit, cherry and redcurrant, barely hinted at, enveloped in a halo of wilted violets and black tea. But what dominates is the sensation of cold stone, moss and fine rain.
On the palate, Castro Candaz enters thinly, like a whisper, but soon asserts itself with a lively acidity and fine, chalky, almost saline tannin. There is tension, but also calm. Notes of pomegranate, dried leaves and an umami background, like a vegetable broth. There is no sweetness or easy caresses: what there is is structure, verticality and a long, slightly bitter finish, reminiscent of liquorice root and the iron of damp earth.
Shipping to Hong Kong
Estimated transit time: 3 working days.
| Bottles | Price | Complete box |
|---|---|---|
| 1-5 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 6 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 7-11 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 12 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 13-17 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 18 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 19-23 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 24 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 25-29 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 30 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 31-35 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 36 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 37-41 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 42 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 43-47 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 48 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 49-53 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 54 bottles, Free shipping! |
| 55-59 bottles | HK$ 139.90 | 60 bottles, Free shipping! |
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