Who is Fazenda Agricola Augalevada?
Is a small farm owned and operated by Iago, located in San Clodio village in Ourense, Galicia. The farm belongs to D.O. Ribeiro.
The farm
2ha of vineyards (total will be 4ha, when he finishes his project), a small cellar, a stream passes middle of the field and some lovely animals that make a harmony in the farm.
Iago felt in love this place and started his biodynamic farm project in 2009.
Typical Galician vineyards; Granitic and Jable (loam sandy) soil. Stony terraces are covered with green grasses. Two caws munches the grasses from autumn to spring.
Treixadura, Lado, Loureira and Agudelo are the main grape types in Iago's vineyards. Then some reds, such as Caiño Longo, Caiño da Terra, are also planted.
Climate of the area is Atlantic with inland climate influence. Iago says in spring and autumn he finds more influence of Atlantic climate, then summer and winter is more continental.
The little stream produces cool and fresh air in the vineyards during summer (*Ourense is one of the hottest spot in Spain during summer) . Also the vineyards are surrounded by Atlantic woods. Woods of oak trees and walnut trees gives cool air in the vineyards, too.
Altitude is 250-300m above sea level and about 100m of gap between higher part of the vineyards to the lowest. This difference of temperate and orientation give complexity to the wine.
Biodynamic
Iago follows biodynamic principals. His wine Ollos de Roque is certified by Demeter.
It is very difficult to follow biodynamic principals in Galicia, due to the combination of high humidity and high temperature. But also there are many winemakers who is pursuit of natural winemaking and following biodynamic principals to express potential of grapes, climate and nature of the area.
He looks after his vineyards by himself with some help of two lovely Galician caws, sheep (also Galician breed) and a cat.
Winemaking of Wizard
His pursuit of expressing purity and minerality of wine makes magic. His wine stay in amphora over 7 months. Each amphora give different effect to the wine. So when Iago blends them all, taste completely different from when you taste it individually. With his wand, he turns Treixadura into a premium white wine “Ollos de Roque”.
Just grape and nature of Ribeiro in bottle.
