OSSIAN VIDES Y VINOS
History, heritage and authenticity
Ossian is a unique and genuine vineyard; a viticultural treasure in the form of pre-phylloxera vines that reach 200 years of age in many cases. Ossian is history through its vines, passion in its grapes, life in its soils and illusion in its winemaking process.
Authentic Verdejo
Ossian perpetuates a legacy that goes back five centuries in time. It works to maintain and recover centenary vineyards that were not decimated by phylloxera, in a land of privileged soils and an extreme climate that marks the character of the most authentic Verdejo.
Ossian Winery was born with a few hectares in the area of Nieva and surroundings. Today, thanks to its comprehensive recovery project and the planting of old vines for future generations, Ossian has 110 hectares spread over the terraces of the Voltoya, between the villages of Nieva, Ochando, Melque de Cercos, Aldehuela del Codonal, Moraleja de Coca, Aldeanueva del Codonal, Santiuste de San Juan Bautista, Villagonzalo de Coca and Nava de la Asunción.
Phylloxera
Most of the vineyards in Nieva and the surrounding area are rooted in sandy soils. The pine forest land becomes not only a geographical reference but also a key feature for the historical preservation of the vines that grew here. This was key for the phylloxera plague of the late 19th century to barely affect the Nieva vineyard: the larvae of the insect cannot thrive in the sandy texture.
Thanks to this natural defense, today we find here ungrafted vines, that is, vines that predate phylloxera.
Ossian winemaking
Selected elaborations are made by plot, by soil type and by vineyard characteristics. Ossian seeks to represent the origin as much as possible through village, region and plot wines. Fermented in barrels and stainless steel tanks using only yolk must with its own indigenous yeasts, continuously taking care of all the details in search of maximum quality and uniqueness. Its natural acidity, a very low pH and the impeccable integration of the wood in the wine, favor a slow and harmonious evolution in the bottle, which allows it to be kept for many years.
The wines of Ossian
Quintaluna
Quintaluna shows the maximum expression and freshness of the authentic Segovian Verdejo. Quintaluna is a village wine that comes from the pre-phylloxera vineyard of Nieva and from the vines planted through the mass selections of its old vines. Its plants rest in sandy soils, surrounded by pine forests and with an extreme climate that gives them an extraordinary singularity and gives the wine a unique varietal typicity.
Ossian
Ossian is the representation of a small universe of plots of the Verdejo variety that guard centuries of winemaking tradition in the surroundings of Nieva. Vines up to 200 years old that keep the witness of the uniqueness of its varietal richness. Ossian is a historical legacy that maintains the elegance and freshness of a unique pre-phylloxera verdejo. A landscape that preserves the historical reality of the Segovian verdejo for hundreds of years.
Capitel
Capitel expresses the most unique representation of the old vines of Segovian Verdejo. The Peña Aguda plot, in Nieva, is characterized by its unique soil; slate, grauwaca, quartzite and calcium silicate rocks in which vines up to 200 years old take root. The vines penetrate between the sheets of slate and extract their essence from them. This pre-phylloxera soil and vineyard bring complexity and extraordinary concentration to a wine of exceptional nuances and inimitable depth.
Ossian is a wine-growing heritage for all of us.
The Ossian vineyard is a viticultural heritage, full of history and value. Its vines have been unchanged for hundreds of years, several generations of winegrowers have passed through them. These very old vines date back to a time before the phylloxera plague that devastated the European continent; their survival is due to their sandy soils in which phylloxera could neither live nor reproduce.
The poor soils and extreme climate mark the character of its wines. With very low yields, its vines, planted in goblet, must fight against the inclement weather year after year and find in the austerity of its terroir the way to concentrate the most characteristic aromas of the Verdejo grape.
