Demencia Cachican 2014. Another Way of enjoying Wine participating by Crowdfunding

Origin of the Project

Our project is based on the vineyard with a somewhat idealistic raising and the recuperation of plots with plants of an advanced age; relying on artisanal craftsmanship, sustainability and environmentally friendly viticulture.

The vines, which are very old and of different varieties, the majority being plants of the Mencia variety, are located in an area with very specific characteristics, slope and orientation especially, because of which their frank composition results in a sometimes gritty nature. After years of implementation, the vineyard has been forced to adapt to conditions that has forged it into something unique and exceptional.

Investigating with Feet in the Soil

In addition to our passion for Mencia, and our insane manner of interpreting it, the occasions are many in which we conduct various tests and experiments with what our land offers us. In the majority of our vineyards we find great diversity of varieties, among those found are: Merenzao, Godello, Dona Branca, Brancellao, Mencía, Garnacha Tintorera, Tempranillo… and some other varieties that we have not yet been able to recognize.

A Wine of the People

In El Bierzo many friends lend us a hand not only in the harvest but in other work as well. There is always someone with whom we joke with using this region’s vernacular. This is the case with Cachicán, which comes to be the foreman of the harvest crew, which usually has a somewhat negative condition among the harvesters, since it’s usually him that pushes them to achieve a greater profitability.

Demencia Cachicán Clarete 2013.

Muchos amigos nos echan una mano tanto en la vendimia, como en otras labores, y siempre hay alguno con el que bromeamos empleando alguno de estos vocablos usados en nuestra comarca. Este es el caso de Cachicán, que viene a ser el capataz de una cuadrilla de vendimia, y que suele tener una afección un tanto negativa entre los vendimiadores, ya que suele ser el que les aprieta a la hora de conseguir una mayor rentabilidad. Con esta broma que surgió en la vendimia queremos homenajear a tantas y tantas personas que con sus trabajos han logrado esculpir un viñedo del que nos sentimos orgullosos y a la vez privilegiados.

Sabemos de la versatilidad de la variedad Mencía para la elaboración de diferentes tipologías de vinos tintos: vinos ligeros y ácidos, vinos corpulentos y grasos, vinos de estructura y tanicidad; incluso existen algunos ejemplos de maceración carbónica.

Pero tampoco somos ajenos a la tradicional elaboración de vinos claretes. Hablando con viticultores del Bierzo – sobre todo en Ponferrada – siempre brilla una sonrisa en sus caras recordando el particular y superior sabor de los vinos claretes años atrás, hecho que provocó que éstos fueran los predilectos del sediento mercado berciano. Muchas veces estos vinos eran los elegidos para llenar la bota y llevarlos al campo.

Some Thoughts about Natural Wines.

I was reading and thinking about why natural wines taste different to conventional ones. It is difficult to say because there is such a great diversity of natural wines out there. Anyway, I have tried to draw some general conclusions, and at the same time evaluate my own approach in the matter.

All fine natural wines are vibrant and full of emotion. They have a broader spectrum of flavours and are usually wines of great purity, often without too much extraction. Some growers often refer to the fermentation process as an infusion. I make my Demencia in small quantities – around 1,000 liters – and we are not add commercial yeast or other products. We are only do ‘pigeage’ without pumping over. As we have a small volume, and we don’t want to use any cooling/ refrigeration machinery. Also, in order to stay true to our philosophy, we try to do everything by hand, that way we keep our electricity  consumption down. As a result, sometimes the must reaches 27ºC, and the extraction and colour with Mencía grapes is natural and fine, but we cannot speak about infusion in our method.

Natural wines also tend to have a lovely, ‘salty’ minerality, because of the conditions the vines are grown in. Vines from organic agriculture usually have deep roots that engage with the bedrock, this means that natural wines will display a far greater array of textures, different tactile sensations, which means that you can almost eat them. Growers give the wine time to stabilize and settle. We gave our wines plenty of time from the very first vintage; we have been introducing Organic Agriculture methods year after year, and we soon realized that in Demencia 2009 we achieved a minerality and complexity which makes the wine almost magical.