In a rudimentary but efficient winery, the grapes are fermented by indigenous yeasts and by foot treading, without temperature control or additives. The pressing is manual with a vertical wooden press and the aging process is mainly in stainless steel or fiber vats to avoid notes of wood and thus preserve the purity of the wine.
Grape Varieties: Malvasia and others.
Vinification: White wine from different plots between 40 and 60 years old on shale soils. Foot treading and direct pressing of the entire bunch. Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts in cement vats. Aging for 8 months in stainless steel vats. No gluing or filtration.
Ageing: 8 months in stainless steel tanks.
Uva is a village of 50 inhabitants, sheltered in the hollow of the mountains, surrounded by dovecotes and where the inhabitants cultivate small plots of vineyards for their own consumption.
Menina d'uva is the project I started in 2017. I left Paris for my parents' village, Uva, out of love for the land, the vineyards and rural life. Today, and after having had difficulty convincing the inhabitants, I rent 10 small plots of old vineyards (3ha in total), for an annual production of 10,000 bottles.
The vineyards are between 40 and 100 years old, and were planted with a mix of traditional varieties from the region. Forgotten varieties, deeply adapted to the climate and soil. At 550m above sea level, the vineyards rest on shale or clay soils and benefit from a continental climate, characterized by long cold winters and very hot summers.
Viticulture is natural, I use compost to feed the soil and I don't do any treatment (due to the very arid climate, it is possible!). This allows you to fully focus on soil and plant recovery work. Because the vineyards are neglected and heavily plowed previously, the pruning work is more laborious and the restoration of soil life is slow, but essential for the production of a terroir wine.
Winemaker: Aline Domingues
