Bodega La Senda by Diego Losada
Diego was born in Ponferrada (Bierzo), but grew up living in Madrid and Burgos and playing electric guitar. After returning to Bierzo in his late teens, he studied organic chemistry at university, acquainting himself with winegrowing through a scientific perspective.
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Eventually, Diego rejected the rigid nature of science, turning to the open-ended and intuitive philosophy of natural winegrowing. He worked at a few larger wineries in the region, but eventually decided that he needed to make wine his own way. After recuperating 3 small parcels, he bottled his first wine with the 2013 vintage.
He currently rents 15 parcels totaling just over 5 hectares, focusing on bush-trained vines with at least 60 years of age, in sites relatively isolated from other vineyard land so that any chemical treatments cannot taint the soils of his own. Using organic viticulture Diego encourages biodiversity, letting the natural flora grow amongst the vines, a philosophy that is “respectful of the environment, an agriculture-based practice that is not intrusive and uses only natural methods to maintain the biological balance in our vineyards.”
In A Gadda Da Vida
This is a natural orange wine with a floral, aromatic character balanced with stone fruit flavours and a savoury edge. Diego named this wine after the psychedelic rock song by Iron Butterfly which was the first he learnt to play on the guitar. The label has references to the famous painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch.
Vindemiatrix
A juicy, natural red wine given a lift of freshness and acidity by the addition of some juice from white grapes that grow in amongst the red Mencia grapes. Perfect from the fridge in the sun. Vindemiatrix is the old name given to a star in the Virgo constellation and it means grape-harvestress in ancient Greek.
Une Rosé de Blancs
An happy accident, Diego, had miscalculated his barrel availability after harvesting his white grapes, he had to empty one that contained Mencía grapes to make room for the white varieties. The Mencía had already made its mark and the stained barrel ended upplenty of colour and flavour into the white juice resulting in a rosé.
1.9.8.4
A natural red wine with medium body and silky texture. Red fruit is the primary focus with a nice hint of earthiness underneath. The name is a reference to Diego's favourite book and the fact he sometimes feels like he is living the story in the conservative surroundings of his town in the Bierzo valley.