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Founded: 2016 by Husband and wife Marcelo Castro Vera and Mukasha Dadajonova
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Winery location: San Felipe, Guanajuato, Mexico
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Region and grape source: Octagono works with grape growers in the state of Guanajuato who strive to grow grapes naturally. For them, this means no industrial fertilizers or pesticides (organic only), regenerative farming and bio-dynamic whenever possible.
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Annual Production: 2,000 cases
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Number of wines made: 7 (3 available in the US)
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Vineyard location, elevation and grape varieties:
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In the state of Guanajuato situated at an elevation of 6,500 ft in clay loam soils. The main grapes they work with are Malbec, Rosa del Peru, Muscat, and Sémillon.
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Winemakers: Celia Alva and Marcelo Castro Vera, (Both are Mexican, and both live in the state of Guanajuato)
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Other notes:
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Octagono is the icon of a natural winery:
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All of the wines are made from organically grown grapes, (dry farmed and biodynamic when possible)
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The winery has no electricity or machinery of any kind, so everything is done by hand, from picking to crushing, pressing, and even bottling.
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All of the fermentations are carried out in buried handmade clay amphoras that were made in Mexico (from clay sourced locally).
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All wines are fermented on ambient yeast, receive no corrections, and are bottled unfined and unfiltered with no added sulfites at any point during the process.
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Most the people employed by Octagono are women.
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Marcelo started his exploration of wine Old World wines and eventually shifted his attention to the red wines of Mexico. The more he explored, the more he realized that there was very little that differentiates them. From this, he started questioning the rules imposed by conventional wine making and wine consumption. Having close ties to many winemakers in of the country, Marcelo saw how little the grape actually dictated the outcome. Rather he found that, if anything, everything possible was done to prevent the natural fruit expression. It was the rigid and manipulative controls that prevented surprises that caused Marcelo to lose interest in conventional wine. At a certain point, his life came to a major crossroads where there was nothing to lose and he ventured forth with the concept of making the wine intuitively, as natural as possible and as honest as possible. With no initial experience, he found his path forward by experimentation and a lot of determination. Fast forward to today - what was a crazy man's project is now gathering a loyal following within Mexico and abroad. These are exceedingly honest wines and people can feel it, even if they can't often put their finger on it. They believe it is this dedication to authenticity in their processes and vision that draws people to the project.
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Co-winemaker Celia Alva has been Marcelo's support since day one. A swift learner and always up for a challenge, she quickly internalized the philosophy behind Octagono and the way Marcelo strived to make wine. Celia's matter-of-fact practicality grounds Marcelo's visionary ideas and materializes them into the finished product. Along with her factually grounded nature she brought her natural talent of combining flavors and bringing them together in a harmonious way to the wines of Octagono.
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The name Octagono relates to the significance of the octagon in sacred geometry: rebirth and the passage from the earthly plane into the celestial.
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Click HERE to visit their webpage
Wine Tech Sheets
- Tinto 2021
