'Sauvage' Constantina Sotelo 2021

The Galician winemaker Constantina Sotelo introduces 'Sauvage', an orange wine with fascinating marine traits made only from Albariño grapes. The hectares of vines cultivated by Constantina are spread over several micro-appellations located in Cambados, close to the estuary of the Ria de Arousa, where the presence of the Atlantic Ocean plays a key role in influencing the vines and thus characterising the wines. This place is considered the cradle of the Albariño, Galicia's most representative white grape variety, which Constantina tends in a scrupulous and artisanal manner, producing expressions of extraordinary authenticity such as the 'Sauvage'.
Constantina Sotelo's 'Sauvage' is a 100% Albariño cultivated using the pergola method according to sustainable viticulture on gravelly soils resulting from granite disintegration. Harvesting is done by hand, carefully selecting the grapes, and in the cellar the alcoholic fermentation is entrusted solely to indigenous yeasts, accompanied by a long pellicular maceration. The oenological approach is absolutely minimalist, with no recourse to filtrations or clarifications and excluding even the addition of sulphites, while earthenware amphorae known locally as 'tinajas' are used as wine containers.
Constantina Sotelo 'Sauvage' is orange-yellow in colour with golden hues. Characteristic and intense aromas of lemon peel, dried apricot, tropical fruit, liquorice and yellow flowers peep out on the nose, combined with vivid oceanic mineral puffs. In the mouth it is distinctly fresh and soft at the same time, with a slight tannic sensation and a pleasant sapid streak. The persistent finish insists on citrus and mineral notes consistent with the nose. This Albariño in 'orange version' has the makings of a wine that can sustain a further long bottle ageing.