The Octagono Estate
Marcelo Castro Vera returned from working in hotels in the United States and opened El Nidal, a shipping container hotel in the mountains of Central Mexico. From that base came a distillery, a brewery, a communal eatery, and finally a winery: Octagono. The winery is run mostly by women and directed by winemaker Celia Morales. Fermentations and aging are in buried amphoras (made by local artisans), grapes are pressed by hand and trod by foot, and there’s no use of sulfur or other additives.
Details:
- Their wines are fermented for up to 9 months in buried clay pots molded by local San Felipe and Dolores Hidalgo artisans. The process of sourcing these vessels brought about the revival of ancestral methods of making pottery - a tradition almost lost in time in a compromise for a quicker way of making pottery that satisfies mass demand. In forming the amphoras they tried to recreate the classic Georgian kvevri form and ended up with a hybrid that has a particular Mexican imprint.
- Satisfied with how the clay pots turned out, it is their belief that these pots are the reason their wines have a very particular character, unique to their winery. It is their hope that as natural winemaking gradually picks up in Mexico, more winemakers turn to local artisans to source their amphoras, instead of turning to foreign experts, thereby boosting local economies and breathing new life into this millenarian art form.
- The concept of Octagono is rebellious by nature; they are making a point for each of us to conquer our fears and defy our comfort zones.
- The grapes they work with are grown by farmers that mirror this quality by insisting to grow their grapes naturally, sometimes choosing unpopular varieties that Octagano so enjoys working with - like Rosa del Peru. They don’t shy away from experimenting with table grapes, like Red Globe, which has delivered a surprise with its unexpected joyous temperament. The minds behind Octagono live for these experiences that fire them up even more to continue innovating and pushing boundaries.
Total Production: 5 wines, 2,000 cases
2021 Tinto - Octagono
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
This wine, like all of the wines Octagono makes is as fresh, striking and radical as any wine you’re likely to find. Those looking for the most pure expression of place in wines made by natural methods with zero intervention have found what they are looking for here. Octagono is the only winery in Mexico using exclusively buried (locally made) clay amphoras for fermentation and aging, and along with a commitment to a completely natural approach use no electricity or even the most basic machines in the harvest or winemaking process. While they are difficult to put into words, Octagono’s wines are perhaps best described as imbued with the electric energy characteristic of something that is in the process of becoming – something whose principle attribute is that feeling of exhilaration associated with deep exploration or a formative journey. Deeply expressive and wild, these wines are the essence of exploration itself.
330 cases made
Drinking window: upon release 5 years
Vintage:
2021
Blend:
100% Malbec
Producer:
Octagono
Winemaker:
Celia Morales
Vineyards:
Grapes were sourced from a vineyard planted in 2005 on silty clay-loam soils at an elevation of 6,500 ft.
Winemaking:
Grapes were destemmed, foot trodden, and fermented and macerated on the skins for 15 days in clay vessels before racking off the skins to rest for 6 months on the lees in the same amphoras before bottling.
All Octagono wines are natural, unfiltered, unfined and fermented with whole grape clusters on ambient yeast, and skin contact. SO2 is never added at any point in the process.
Sulfites: No sulfites added
Farming:
Organic, biodynamic, sustainable
Alcohol:
11%
