The term “sharing economy” really and truly needs to die and most things associated with it can go along for the ride. In this era of Uber and Airbnb, there is little that truly motivates me with the exception of winery projects on sites such as Kickstarter or, here in Europe, Verkami. In Europe, it is possible to scrape together a few funds to make a new winery project possible, at least for the first year to get things going.
Thus, I was contacted about a new project called, Cepas de la Culebra in the village of Riofrío de Aliste. They’re outside any of the Spanish Denomination of Origins but sit very, very close to Portgual and near to several other DO’s including the relatively well-known DO Bierzo. As such, they’re able to lay claim to a good deal of Mencía which is a very exciting grape if you haven’t had the chance to try it.
Owner Ruben’s pitch is quite simple: buy the new wines in advance to help fund their production and get them next Spring. The resulting wines will be made from their 80 year-old vineyards in the village and be a blend of Mencía, Tempranillo, and Palomino. Even the lowest pledge has you receiving bottles at about 6€ each with shipping included. The higher pledge levels are even more appealing.
It’s a pretty solid deal. We did it with another pitch called Uvas Nomadas and were quite happy with the wines received. It’s a great deal for customers and also few new winemakers for whom working with a middleman distributor that pays them way, way in to the future is all but impossible.
If you live in Spain, pitch in and in a few months, drink happy!
