Free shipping from 12 bottles · Delivery throughout Switzerland
Free shipping from 12 bottles · Delivery throughout Switzerland
Ribeira Sacra · Spain
Carlos Carballo names his wines after his parents: Viña Aurita after his late mother, Xcelso Patao after his father, who despite his great age helps him in the vineyard every day.
7 Red wines, 2 White wines. From CHF 59.00.
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Merenzao
CHF 99.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Godello, Torrontés, Doña Blanca / Dona Branca
CHF 79.00
Merenzao
CHF 99.00
Merenzao
CHF 99.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Godello, Torrontés, Doña Blanca / Dona Branca
CHF 99.00
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Origin
A Pobra do Brollón lies in the province of Lugo, in the Ribeira Sacra. Carlos Carballo has a single vineyard here, the plot A Burata dá Salamanca on the Ribeira do Eivedo, steep and at 400 to 600 metres. The area belongs to the D.O. Ribeira Sacra, but Carlos deliberately bottles outside its rules.
The people
Carlos works with his father, whom everyone calls Patao and who still helps him in the vineyard every day despite his age. The wines are named after his parents: Viña Aurita after his late mother Aurita, Xcelso Patao after his father. The two call themselves «enólogos artesanos», craft oenologists. Depending on the wine and the year, they bottle between 159 and 1,135 bottles.
Philosophy
Carlos corrects nothing in the cellar, so every vintage turns out differently.
2023 showed how hard that can be: he lost more than 70 percent of his harvest, and only 14 bottles of the white Viña Aurita were made. Carlos chooses carefully who gets his wines: people who take a wine the way the year made it.
A vertical
Mencía with a little Sousón, aged in steel with no wood. Each vintage runs to between 463 and 974 bottles. Side by side they show how different the years turn out.
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Mencía, Sousón
CHF 59.00
Terroir
The soil of the plot is 60 percent clay, 30 percent sand and 10 percent silt, a grain size between clay and sand. No chemical fertiliser or pesticide goes onto the steep slopes; the soil gets its nutrients from compost only.
Only Galician varieties. Godello, Torrontés and Dona Branca make the Viña Aurita Blanco, Mencía with a little Sousón the Viña Aurita Tinto, pure Merenzao the Xcelso Patao. The vines for the Blanco and Xcelso Patao are 22 to 23 years old.
Atlantic, with mild temperatures and enough rain. For the Tinto, hand picking usually takes place between late August and early September.
In the cellar
Carlos presses the white with its stems, without destemming. It ferments spontaneously at 17 to 19 degrees, cooled with water from hoses, and then goes through malolactic conversion like a red. The reds are fully destemmed and ferment without enzymes, nutrients or other additions. Usually the must is pumped over; in 2022 the cap was only punched down. After fermentation the wine rests on the skins for two to three days and is then drawn off without pressing the pomace. Carlos turns the press wine into vinegar or pours it away. Two or three times a year he racks the wine off its sediment. There is no fining; at bottling, ten coarse filters only hold back floating particles. Both cost him a good part of the volume every year.
Carlos's wines have strong aromas, and he wants them that way. On its own the Viña Aurita Blanco can feel almost too intense; with seafood or poultry it becomes a strong partner. Our advice for the Xcelso Patao: open it in the afternoon if you want to drink it in the evening. After a few hours in the air it shows different aromas than right after opening.
Photos
Both honour his parents. Viña Aurita is named after his late mother Aurita, Xcelso Patao after his father, whose nickname is Patao. Despite his age, his father still helps Carlos in the vineyard every day. The two call themselves artisan oenologists.
In A Pobra do Brollón in the province of Lugo, Galicia. The winery belongs to the Ribeira Sacra, but Carlos deliberately makes his wines outside the DO rules. His vineyard is the plot “A Burata dá Salamanca”, on a steep slope at 400 to 600 metres. The climate is Atlantic, with mild temperatures and enough rain.
Only native Galician varieties. The whites are Godello, Torrontés and Dona Branca, the reds Mencía, Sousón and Merenzao. The Viña Aurita Blanco is mostly Godello with small amounts of Torrontés and Dona Branca. The Viña Aurita Tinto is mostly Mencía with a little Sousón. The Xcelso Patao is pure Merenzao.
Carlos runs a micro-winery, works without chemicals and accepts losses on purpose. He does not use the press wine, and the sediment is left behind when he racks. Depending on the wine and the year, he makes between 159 and 1,135 bottles. In 2023 he lost more than 70 percent of his harvest and could bottle only 14 bottles of the white Aurita.
He presses the white with its stems, without destemming, and lets it ferment spontaneously with native yeasts at 17 to 19 °C, cooled only with water and hoses. The reds are fully destemmed and ferment spontaneously, with no enzymes or nutrients. The wine then rests two to three days on the skins. It is clarified only by settling and racking, two to three times a year.
It is Carlos's finest wine: pure Merenzao, a delicate ruby colour, with raspberry, cranberry and violet on the nose. Right after opening it feels fine and elegant, and after a few hours in the air it shows other aromas. So take your time. Serve it at 12 to 14 °C with lighter meat or poultry. We stock 2020, 2021 and 2022, each CHF 99.
Drunk on its own, its aromas are very strong. With food it changes and becomes a powerful partner for seafood, poultry and even meat. Like a red wine, it goes through malolactic fermentation, and it is neither filtered nor fined. Serve it at 11 to 12 °C. There are 250 bottles of the 2021 and only 159 of the 2022.
The Viña Aurita Tinto costs CHF 59, the Viña Aurita Blanco CHF 79 (2021) and CHF 99 (2022), and the Xcelso Patao CHF 99.
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