Mixtura ‘Gold’ Blanco 2018

Mixtura ‘Gold’ Blanco 2018

Mixtura is a small craftsman winery in northwestern Spain helmed by Gutier Seijo Otero, a Galicia native who has gained extensive experience working in some of the most prestigious cellars of Galicia and throughout the world in his work with other top wineries. Created in 2019, Mixtura – Independent Wines is the natural evolution of his ideals, vision, and all that he has learned along the way. 

Mixtura was born of an ideology built on the search and recovery of historical vineyards and their native varieties along the course of the ancient river valleys of northwestern Spain’s border with Portugal. Working with grape varieties that straddled the Miño river centuries before a border even existed, Guti has left the geographical and political restrictions of appellations behind him in order to focus on discovering the purest expressions of terroir. 

‘Gold’ is the highly exclusive flagship white wine from Mixtura. Gutier considers it his ideal expression of the Miño river valley, where Galicia and Portugal meet in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula. ‘Gold’ is a selection of vineyards, only produced in the best vintages, when all of the climatic and vineyard conditions come together to produce an excellent wine, capable of long development in bottle. 

‘Gold’ consists of a 50/50 blend of treixadura and albariño varieties. For this cuvée, Guti selects his best, hand-harvested treixadura vines from the heart of the Ribeiro region in Galicia. Vineyards here are primarily east facing, located near the village of Berán, between 90 and 200 meters, in soils consisting of sábrego–sandy decomposed granite. Ribeiro has a transitional climate with a Mediterranean character that is moderated by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The albariño for the blend is a selection of old vines (60-90 years old) from the villages of Prado, Alvarado, and Penso in Melgaço, a sub-zone of the Portuguese Vinho Verde D.O. The Melgaço subzone consists of vineyards planted on the hillsides of the Miño river valley’s southern bank in sábrego soils, across from the Condado do Tea subzone. Vines occupy an amphitheater facing the river. The albariño from this region is aromatically expressive, with great elegance and intensity on the palate.

Mixtura ‘Gold’ is a complex, sophisticated, and thought-provoking wine produced in very limited quantities and is capable of improving in bottle for many years.

Vinification – Albariño and treixadura bunches are hand-harvested and sorted in the vineyard. After crushing, the must begins alcoholic fermentation spontaneously with native yeasts in used 600-liter French oak foudres without temperature control. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine spends 12 months in the same barrels on the fine lees, where it undergoes spontaneous malolactic fermentation. The wine is then racked into Italian Nico Velo ceramic eggs, where it develops for a further 36 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with minimal sulfur at bottling.

  • Site: Ribeiro (Berán, Condado do Tea, and Melgaço: Prado, Alvaredo, and Penso)

  • Grapes: Treixadura / Albariño

  • Vine Age: 40-90+ years old

  • Soil: Sábrego (decomposed granite and sand)

  • Vinification: Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts without temperature control in 600-liter used French oak foudres

  • Aging: 12 months on the lees in fermentation barrels. Malolactic fermentation is spontaneous. The wine is then racked into Italian Nico Velo concrete egg amphorae for 36 months.

  • Farming: Practicing Organic, some vineyards Certified Organic

  • Vegan: Yes

  • Fining/Filtration: None

  • Suggested Retail: $94.00 (750mL)