Noelia de Paz is focused on Albarín Blanco and Prieto Picudo, the traditional grape varieties grown in DO León, a wine producing region to the southwest of Castilla y León. A self-taught producer, Noelia learnt about wine while working with her father and uncle in Tampesta, the family winery in the village of Valdevimbre, where she looked after the wines and was also in charge of sales. When they closed down in 2014, she decided to remain in the wine business and work with the indigenous varieties of León.
With a little help from renowned Bierzo winemaker Raúl Pérez, who also makes some wines in León, and from his friend and partner Rodrigo Méndez (Forjas del Salnés, Rías Baixas), Noelia managed to swiftly launch her own range of wines. Named LaOsa (female bear), as she is fondly called by her friends, Noelia launched three wines in the 2015 vintage: a Prieto Picudo called Grizzly (2,000 bottles, €16.50), Polar Albariño (1,500 bottles, €12.5), made at Méndez’s facilities in Rías Baixas, and Pardo (1,000 bottles, €,15), a Mencía produced in Bierzo with Pérez, with whom she has worked closely and considers her mentor.
Since then, Noelia has continued to develop her project in León with the range Trasto (naughty). She does not own any land, but she has started to work closely with accomplished growers from the villages of Valdevimbre and Pajares de los Oteros. The region is a broad plateau with vineyards planted on moorland at an average elevation of 700 metres. Clay soils with good water retention and abundant pebbles on the surface are dominant here. Noelia says that the area stands out for its cold climate and sharp temperature variations during the ripening season.
The Trasto range includes a white Albarín (€16, 4,000 bottles) that shows the intense grapey, lavender aromas of this variety and its vibrant acidity; and three wines made from Prieto Picudo. A pale, directly-pressed rosé (€9) which is successfully exported to the US and stands in sharp contrast with the deep-coloured rosés of the area; an unoaked red (€15, 4,000 bottles) that is a great introduction to the structured, black fruit and herbal character of this variety which also has good acidity; and the single-vineyard red Finca El Barranco (€15), which is aged for eight years in barrel. Grapes are sourced from a sun-drenched plot in Valdevimbre which distinctive stony soils. Some stems are usually included in red wines. Total production stands at around 16,000 bottles.
Prieto Picudo is a thick-skinned variety with small berries and good acidity. Since it produces very little juice, it makes structured reds. Noelia has learnt that the best way to deal with it is to avoid intervention. “The more you pump over or move the wine, the harsher the tannins are”, she points out and jokes about the similarities between the locals and the wines: “Both are austere, rough and closed at the beginning.”
After having worked several years in rented spaces, since 2020 she works from her own winery in the village of Ardón. It is a raw earth construction which was operational between the 1940s and 1980s and with capacity to produce one million litres.
Before the pandemic, LaOsa was exporting around 60% of its production. The wines are imported to the US by La Luz Selection.
