Siete Vidas - Cangas

Visiting Siete Vidas is like traveling to the middle ages. Similar in many ways to Galicia, but more remote, Asturias is green and wet, with stone hovels and wood smoke always in the air. Cangas del Narcea and the surrounding areas were important viticulturally from the 11th century until 1950, when coal mining abruptly stopped cultivation, dropping from 3 million kilos of grapes per year to its current 100,000. Cangas native Beatriz Pérez is working to revive local wine culture. She cares for many of the few remaining plots of vines, entrusted to her by older locals, too old to tend them on their own, and is also planting new vineyards. She is on a quest to show what Cangas can do!

Siete Vidas Albarín Blanco 2020

80% Albarín Blanco/15% Palomino/5% Albillo from organic in practice vineyards with extreme viticulture in every way: rocky, slate soils which slip under your feet, steep slopes with as much as 75% grades, warm and wet in the summer, snow in the winter.

Winemaking: Stainless fermented and aged.  Spontaneous native yeast fermentation.  Low total SO2 (15 ppm).

Production: 200 cases

Siete Vidas “Tinto” 2020

50% Mencía/30% Albarín Negro/15% Carrasquín/5% Verdejo Negro (Trousseau) from 30-60 year old organic in practice vineyards.

Winemaking: Stainless fermented and aged.  Low total SO2 (10 ppm).

Production: 416 cases

Siete Vidas “Roble” 2018

40% Albarín Negro/30% Carrasquín/30% Verdejo Negro from 30-60 year old organic in practice vineyards.

Winemaking: Aged in a used, 3,000 liter French foudre for 10 months.  Low total SO2 (20 ppm).

Production: 330 cases

Siete Vidas Parcelas Singulares 2019 (formerly Roble)

40% Albarín Negro/30% Carrasquín/30% Verdejo Negro from 30-60 year old organic in practice vineyards.

Winemaking: Aged in a used, 3,000 liter French foudre for 10 months.  Low total SO2 (20 ppm).

Production: 330 cases

Siete Vidas Parcelas Singulares 2021 (formerly Roble)

40% Albarín Negro/30% Carrasquín/30% Verdejo Negro from 30-60 year old organic in practice vineyards.

Winemaking: Aged in a used, 3,000 liter French foudre for 7 months.  Low total SO2 (20 ppm).

Production: 330 cases

Siete Vidas Carrasquin 2015

100% Carrasquin from 30-60 year old organic in practice vineyards.

Winemaking:  Partial whole-bunch spontaneous fermentation in French oak foudres then aged for 10 months in a 3,000-litre French oak foudre.  Bottled with low SO2.

Production: 1,200 bottles

Decanter 91 - Siete Vidas Carrasquin 2015

Tasted by: Sarah Jane Evans, MW

Issue Date: October 31, 2018

This is partially whole-bunch fermented in French oak foudres then aged for 10 months in a 3,000-litre French oak foudre. It's deeply aromatic, with a note of dark plum. It's equally dark-fruited in the mouth, with a lift of sweet spices alongside lovely freshness and a long finish.

Decanter 91 -  Siete Vidas Carrasquin 2017

Tasted by: Pedro Ballesteros Torres, MW

Issue Date: December 9, 2019

One would take this wine for a great red Loire. Made from 100% Carrasquín, it unites freshness with tannic grip, shows a spicy expression with blackberry aromas, and has a persistent aftertaste. If only there were more of it... From steep vineyards in Cangas, Asturias, a remote area of unsuspected beauty. 10 months oak.