About the Producer

The land and wines used to serve as the family livelihood with grapes and wine sold in bulk to small consumers in the local area. However the more modern aspect of this story began four decades ago when Samuel Lopez and Adela Folgueral took over the running of the family vineyards. 

At this stage, a transformation of the viticulture was carried out in order to find a better balance in the production of the vines so that they could better adapt to the surge in demand for higher quality standards. Since then, quality excellence is achieved by using the most emblematic varieties in the Bierzo region, Mencía and Godello.

After a few years the family managed to draw together seven hectares of vineyards mainly with Mencía and other local varieties in three different landscapes in Valtuille de Abajo. This was done by purchasing and changing surrounding plots and estates.

In 1993 the plot on the high side of “El Toral” was planted. This plantation is at the top of the hill near to the fort called “Castro de la Ventosa” and was planted with the varieties of Mencía and Chardonnay. This is the only new plot in the property planted on trellis. During the next years the production became centred on the traditional viticulture, an eco-friendly style centred on a production balance, especially in the old vines which, for some decades, were worn out to satisfy the needs of a market which demanded wine sales in bulk.

The local wineries and enologists were established as the main clientele when year after year they stocked up on the grapes from specific plots due to the varietal and terroir characteristics.

In 2013, the children of Samuel and Adela – Héctor and Víctor – decided to restore the old winery, in which their ancestors had made the wines many years before, a place where they could start creating their own family brand. In the same year, the plot called “La Fontiña de Nai” was started as a private project. These first vintages were only for private tasting and were not released for sale.

During the next three years the refurbishment of the winery along with part of the family house was finished and then equipped with the first steel tanks and French oak barrels where the first vintages were laid down to age.

From 2016, two new hectares of old, abandoned vineyards were taken on, located in the village of Villalibre de la Jurisdicción. This aims to bring about the return of the production of Mencía and Godello, to obtain wines with different characteristics due to the 900-metre altitude from sea level, 30% tilt in a northern slope in clay and slate terroir.

Vineyard and Winery

The harvest of 100% Mencía grapes was done in September. The best bunches were selected grapes in the vineyard and the picking is done in 20kg buckets so bunches arrive at the winery undamaged.

VI LOF is made with the selected grapes from two of the family plots “Los Cobos” and “El Foco”. Clay predominates in the area and the vines face south but with higher elevation so freshness and balanced acidity result naturally in the wines from this plot.

The grapes from each of the plots are de-stemmed and fermented separately in stainless steel tanks with spontaneous fermentation from natural yeasts present on the grape skins. Once the fermentation is finished, it is aged separately in French oak barrels for 12 months, never new barrels so as to avoid an overly woody flavour.

During the ageing time some decantation is done in order to aerate the wine. There is no other filtering process done before the bottling so as not to detract from the structure and complexity.

After 12 months of ageing, blending is done from the selection of the barrels. The bottling is next and after this the wine is stored to rest without movement for several months, this helps with the integration of the flavours and balance before being distributed for sale.