Dore

DORE 2024

Region: Spain, Castile and León

Grape: Chasselas Doré

Color: White

A new genre that you never thought existed. This is your go-to when you're unsure what to pair with your meal.

Deep yellow in appearance.
Its color suggests a bone-dry wine with a rich attack, yet with an ABV of 12%, it's surprisingly easy-drinking, making you want to keep pouring.
It's definitely better suited for pairing with food than drinking on its own. I tried it with Chinese food, and it's rare to find a white wine that pairs so well with everything.

Chasselas Doré is named for its early ripening, turning dorado (golden).
After destemming and maceration, it is fermented and aged for 6 months in stainless steel tanks.

【Producer Information】

Gredos, one of Spain's most renowned wine regions. Its heart, the village of Cebreros, is quietly nestled on the northern side of the Sierra de Gredos, north of Spain's capital, Madrid.
The Sierra de Gredos is one of the most prominent mountain ranges in Castile and León, and indeed in Spain, stretching from Madrid to Portugal. This mountain range creates a microclimate for the vineyards of Cebreros. The northern part of Gredos is known as the Alberche Valley, experiencing very hot summers and very cold winters. Vineyards are scattered at altitudes up to 1200m.

Ruben Diaz, a native of Cebreros, grew up with the region's cultivation methods, traditional winemaking, and wine. Ruben, who claims that half of him is made of Garnacha, is a craftsman-like producer, highly regarded by charismatic winemakers such as Comando G and Marc Isart.
(*The southern part of Gredos is called the Tiétar Valley, where summers are not as hot and winters are not as severe.)
Cebreros (used as both a village name and a subzone name) in the Sierra de Gredos is located between the provinces of Ávila, Toledo, and Spain's capital Madrid, and consists of 35 small villages.
The grape varieties and soils here stir the hearts of wine drinkers. While it has recently become known as a production area attracting attention from Spain and around the world, it was once just a small, depopulated rural village quietly nestled in the Sierra de Gredos.
Although it's only about an hour's drive from the capital Madrid, after leaving the hustle and bustle of the city and navigating the winding mountain roads through rich forests, you reach the village of Cebreros, so high that it feels like you can touch the sky.

Ruben Diaz, a true Cebrereño, was born and raised in this small mountain village and has helped with his family's grape cultivation since childhood. He studied marketing and design at university and worked for an advertising agency for a while, but feeling suffocated by city life, he decided to return to Cebreros and live in nature. Although job opportunities were very limited in the village, he continued freelance work using his previous experience while helping out in his family's vineyards. Assisting his family and elderly neighbors, he learned about the land of Cebreros and traditional winemaking methods, researched historical documents, and rediscovered cultivation and winemaking techniques that had been long forgotten.

This small rural village is considered special as a wine-producing region for several distinctive reasons. It experiences a typical continental climate with extreme heat and cold, with a slight influence from the Mediterranean climate. The vineyards are located at ultra-high altitudes of 650-1200m, and cold winds blow down from even higher mountains to the east, lending freshness to the wine. Red grapes, mainly Garnacha, are planted at high altitudes, while white grapes, Albillo and Chasselas, are planted at slightly lower altitudes around 650m in this area.
Farmers in the past reportedly harvested Albillo in late July to early August, sold the grapes, and used the proceeds to hire people for the Garnacha harvest.
The soil in this area is predominantly granite, with a topsoil of slate containing gravel-like pebbles. This topsoil is mainly found at high altitudes where Garnacha is planted.

Ruben's vineyards, of course, are never sprayed with chemicals; horses are used for cultivation, and he practices natural farming methods, adding nothing and taking nothing away.