German Blanco is passionate about climbing mountains. “I’m more into mountaineering than into climbing. “I want to go up and then continue to the next mountain.” In a perfect metaphor, this Asturian describes his 19-year career as a viticulturist and winemaker in Ribera del Duero, Rioja, but especially in Bierzo, where his roots are found.
A few days ago, he shared his most personal project, Casa Aurora, in La Canibal, one of the most famous wine bars in Madrid. I had the opportunity to chat with him for a while prior to this tasting.
PART I. THE STORY
He defines himself as a first-generation winemaker, of humble origins, who started his career from scratch. “My father came from the clothing business and my mother had an art school. When I was a teenager, they had a complicated divorce and I decided to move in with my grandmother in Albares, a little town in Leon” he recalls.
Although German didn´t know it yet, the seed of Casa Aurora had grown into him. But there are seeds that take years, or even decades, to flourish.
He studied Oenology in Madrid while working at Lavinia, a prestigious wine shop, to be able to pay for his studies. Although it can be assumed that wine captivated him from a very young age, he does not consider it that way: “It is more complex than all that. I wasn´t sure about anything, but I had a creative motivation. And here I am still,” he recalls.
RIBERA DE DUERO
He never dreamed of having his own winery, but sometimes life gives you more than you expect. “It was the time of the big wineries, and my goal was to find a job in one of them.” He wanted to return home “because I was in love with an Asturian woman who is now my wife, and with whom I have built this dream.”
Chance and necessity led him to Aranda de Duero, where he began working first for Felix Callejo “who treated me wonderfully” and then as a consultant for several wineries. And there, in Ribera de Duero, 19 years ago, his first project was born: Quinta Milu.
“A good friend’s family set up a winery and they were having some difficulties getting the project started, so we decided to join forces” he recalls.
CASA AURORA WAS BORN
In 2006 Germán’s grandmother died. “For me it was a very big shock. It took me four or five years to return to her hometown,”. But one day when he was traveling from Aranda de Duero to Gijon, he felt the emotional need to visit the family vineyard. “I didn’t even know how to get there, one of his friends took me there.”
As a catharsis, he began to take care of that vineyard without even saying anything to his wife Cristina. When the neighbors saw him there, they began to give him their abandoned vineyards to take care of and little by little the Casa Aurora project began to take shape. “I knew that making wine in Bierzo Alto was going to be much more difficult than in Ribera and that I would have to do it all myself.” It was 2010, and the first vintage was released on the market in 2013.
RIBERA DE DUERO
In 2015 he got the bug to start from scratch in a new area and return to the origins of Quinta Milú, his wine made in Ribera de Duero. “I call the Rioja project my business. “I buy grapes, rent facilities, produce and sell,” he explains. “ La Bicicleta Voladora is a white Tempranillo wine, which is a grape that was having a hard time selling to winegrowers in the area. It took me a while to understand that it is a simple and austere grape. It is an everyday wine, easy to drink, cheerful. “A wine of textures.”
PIONEER IN RIOJA
When I tell him that his career reminds me of other winemakers like Telmo Rodríguez, one of the most reputed winemakers in Spain, he smiles. “I am a big fan of Telmo Rodríguez and Álvaro Palacios, and I think that little has been said and little has been appreciated for what they have done for Spanish viticulture. We are not a country in which the merit of others is recognized.”
He also considers himself a classic, after 19 years of making wine. “You can’t be in the news forever, it’s part of life, the press likes news. In exchange, experience gives you stability and a loyal market.”
When asked who drinks his wine, he answers that “I make wine for normal people, for everyone. Living outside of the manufacturing areas gives me a cleaner, more interesting perspective, although at first, I thought it could be a disadvantage.” In fact, 50% of the 30,000 annual bottles produces are sold in Spain, an unusually high percentage. The US is another relevant market for his wines.
PART 2. THE WINE
At the tasting held a few days ago at La Canibal, attendees had the opportunity to try all the wines from their project at Casa Aurora, as well as some surprises.
VINEYARDS AND ELABORATION
Casa Aurora vineyards are located in Bierzo Alto, between 800 and 1000 meters of altitude. “It is a very economically depressed area, where the vineyards were abandoned due to the minery,” he commented.
The main varieties most adapted to the climate are what Germán R. Blanco calls the Holy Trinity: “Palomino for the liters, Garnacha Tintorera for the color and Mencía for the quality. We work wih this heritage and we make a reinterpretation. My vineyards are like a piece of music and I have great respect for them. I don’t like to overwork wine.”
All wines in Casa Aurora are made in a similar way: 95% of the grapes are destemmed and a “pie de cuba” is made. This process consists of harvesting a small percentage and fermenting it. The rest of the deposits are planted with it. No additives or sulfur compounds are added either.
It is in the use of containers where this producer brings out his inner “chef”: clay amphorae, PVC, stainless steel, Flextank, used barrels… As for aging, it is always approximately 12 months. “I like the wine to be cold in winter and hot in summer,” he explains.
LA TRUENA
This is the first white made at Casa Aurora, a 100% Godello from old vineyards. He decided to play with all the available containers, although for the next vintage there is more stainless steel.
Apricot, saline notes and a subtle note of the clay amphora. A wine with a lot of nerve.
PEPINK
Pepink is the unexpected claret and unexpected success of Casa Aurora. The wine that was made at home to accompany the long days in the countryside. That light red. That 90% white 10% red vinified as a red. Again 12 months in barrel and amphora.
“It’s a wine I was making for myself, but people started asking me to try it. A provocative and versatile wine, which admits all temperatures and all accompaniments since it has a more rustic than fruity character.”
LA NAVE
“La Nave is that premium regional wine that we were missing. It is called that because in 2020 we bought a warehouse to be able to grow, although it is difficult for me to get used to it,” he tells us. Fruit, clean wine, aged in wood and 100% Mencía.
CLOS PEPIN
Germán describes Clos Pepin as his most personal wine. “It comes from one of my vineyards in Albares and three or four other plots. 40% Mencía 40% Palomino, Garnacha Tintorera and other varieties. I call it my stew wine, because you decide how you cook it as it comes from different vineyards.” Again 12 months in amphora and barrel.
CARAS NORTE
Caras Norte is another new feature from Casa Aurora and right now is his most cherished project. A north-facing vineyard that, with climate change, has gone from Cinderella to princess. “I always thought what a beautiful vineyard, what a shame it is in the North. They offered it to us in 2022 and I took the plunge.” 60% Palomino, 30% Garnacha Tintorera and other varieties.
Volatile a little higher, tannin a little greener. A wine with more character, not suitable for all audiences. A wild unicorn.
LA VIÑA DE LA SEÑORA AURORA
The family heritage, a delicate and feminine Mencía. 300 recovered plants, 300 grafted and 300 new. A Vineyard facing east in a cold area at 930 meters of altitude, one of the highest in the province. Again, an ugly duck that turns into a beautiful swan.
POULA
Poula is the great house wine. Its name comes from a local term that refers to abandoned land. Curiously, it is not a parcel wine. It is made with the best grapes from the best vineyards, in the style of the great classic Rioja wines. “I wanted to show that the Bierzo mountains are also capable of creating great wine.”
Poula would be Clos Pepín’s older brother. 30% Mencia and the rest various varieties: Garnacha, Portuguese, caiño…
A wine with great aging capacity as the 2019 vintage already demonstrated, which we were also able to try. A wine to take the Bierzo mountains home and keep it for decades.
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