Galicia is the chilly, wet, and oft overlooked westerly region of Spain, nestled atop the north end of Portugal and heavily influenced by the Atlantic. The region is cool and riddled with disease pressures, but... Read More
Galicia is the chilly, wet, and oft overlooked westerly region of Spain, nestled atop the north end of Portugal and heavily influenced by the Atlantic. The region is cool and riddled with disease pressures, but at the same time has become a hotbed for quality producers with delicious bottlings of unique varieties. We here at Flatiron are all super excited by these Galician wines because they showcase terroir to an extreme-- with bright acid, a lighter body and a focused perspective.
Cume do Avia is exactly the type of producer that's stoking our fervor. In 2005 a group of 4 friends, lead by Diego Collarte, decided to embark on the financially precarious business venture of reestablishing their ancestors' vineyards. This site, on the banks of the River Avia, had been abandoned since 1942, with a winemaking history lost to the annals of time.
Fortunately for the friends their ancestors picked a remarkable place on which to plant. Because of the southwest facing slopes, proximity to the Atlantic, and the hilltop that benefits from stiff breezes regularly, the four are able to successfully farm biodynamically. That's quite the feat in a region so riddled with fungal intensity. It took the group almost a decade to plant and curate their hill (Cume is derived from the Portuguese word for hill) overlooking the river and to perfect their craft.
Bottlings from Cume do Avia have found a perfect sweet spot between two often disparate perspectives. They've managed to capture a precise and clean sense of terroir and at the same time are produced naturally in a region that attacks their efforts at every turn. Finally, they've done all this without sky high prices: they've threaded the proverbial needle. These wines are extremely limited. Although almost 80% of their production comes to the US, many of the bottlings are only a single barrel or less.
