OSSIAN

2017 was a very difficult weather year. It started dry and very cold, recoding up to 15 degrees below zero in mid- January, although later the temperatures became milder. After sprouting, two heavy frosts occurred on 28 April and 1 May.  The rains in May and a warm, dry June helped restore the vines vigor. On 7 July we had severe storms accompanied by hail in some places, although the rest of the summer was dry and hot, with cold nights and occasional rain in August that helped to alleviate the drought. The adverse conditions of the vintage resulted in very low yields.In spite of everything, a grape with excellent health and quality was obtained. The harvested took place from September 19 to 30 with heat and no rainfall, whicj prevented interruptions.

The soil of Nieva is mostly Sandy loam. Thanks to its texture, the phylloxera plague at the end of the 19th century had not impacto n the región, wich preserved these vines that still survvie as a heritage of our winemaking history as legacy of our ancestors. Ossian is made entirely from centruir-old vineyars, ungrafted with certified ecological cultivation. Some plots have a Surface covered with pebbles – or condons- that emerge among the sand. Teht are the testimony of the passahe of ancient wáter currents. In general, the geology of our vineyards was formed in the Cenozoic or tertiary era, some 20 million years ago.

Utilizamos antiguas técnicas propias de la zona; vendimiando cada pequeña parcela a mano. A continuación, las uvas se prensaron suavemente para obtener el primer mosto, o mosto yema, que fermentó con levaduras autóctonas en barricas de 228 y 600 litros, y fudres de madera de distinta capacidad. La posterior crianza fue lenta y sosegada, con bastoneos periódicos sobre sus lías, hasta completar nueve meses en barrica. Ossian 2017 fue embotellado en septiembre de 2018.