Description

What am I: Arribas Saroto Nat Cool Red

The Arribas Wine Company project began in 2017, when winemakers Frederico Machado and Ricardo Alves decided that the time to start a more personal project had arrived. The quest for diversity and a spot with unique characteristics took them to Bemposta, a small village in the far north of Portugal. This just happened to be near Mogadouro, where the grandparents of one of the founders were born. There they found very old vineyards, some of them recently abandoned.

From the regeneration of their first plot, less than 2 hectares, the first wine of Saroto was made. Saroto is a local term used to designate an animal with its tail cut off. The lizard on the label symbolizes the capacity of regeneration and represents the winemaker’s desire to recover and preserve a rich and diverse heritage that otherwise would be lost.

Saroto Nat Cool Red 2021 is crafted from hand-harvested grapes, collected in August and September. After being foot trodden in a traditional lagar for four days, the grapes underwent skin maceration. Following pressing, the juice was stored in a stainless steel tank for 11 months. Fermentation occurred naturally with indigenous yeast, without temperature control, covering both alcoholic and malolactic processes. The wine is unrefined, unfiltered, and might develop sediment with aging.