RIBEIRO
Casal de Armán
O Cotiño. San Andrés de Camporredondo
32400 Ribadavia, Ourense Spain
www.bodegascasaldearman.com
Casal de ArmánCasal de Armán
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This winery was set up in the late 1990s to bring back the family’s tradition of winegrowing over four generations. It is located on the left bank of the Avia river, next to the magnificent rectory house of Santo André de Camporredondo, which has been restored to host the Galician Museum of Wine, and surrounded by vineyards. The three González Vázquez brothers have split the tasks of winemaking, management and sales as well as looking after the small hotel-restaurant adjacent to the winery. In fact, Casal de Armán is a favourite accommodation for wine lovers visiting Ribeiro, and the family pioneered the celebration of events and weddings in the area.
The family owns around 20 hectares under vine with white grape varieties such as Treixadura, Godello, Albariño and Loureira and reds Brancellao, Caíño and Sousón. They also buy grapes from local growers in order to produce around 200,000 bottles per year. Plots are dotted around the winery and on different historic villages in the valley (San Clodio, Gomariz, Beade, Carballeda…) on both sides of the river Avia. Soils are mainly sábrego (granitic sand) but schist can also be found in some areas. The oldest is in A Veiga (Carballeda) and includes 60+-year-old vines whose cuttings have been used for most of Casal de Armán’s new plantings.
The top range includes Misenhora, a blend of 90% Treixadura and10% Godello aged on its lees in stainless steel tanks, and the barrel-fermented Os Loureiras, made from 100% Treixadura. Both are complex and nicely crafted whites with more volume and richness in Misenhora, whose grapes are sourced from a sun-exposed vineyard in Beade with very poor soils. Os Loureiras is just the opposite and comes from a shaded late-ripening plot.
The flagship wine is Casal de Armán white, a blend of 90% Treixadura with Godello and Albariño. Thei entry-level wine also uses this blend and is bottled under the brand 7 Cupos. Despite being made in limited quantities, reds follow the same pattern: Casal de Arman blends Sousón, Brancellao and Caíño which doesn’t see any oak at all and is very Atlantic in style.
