Casa Aurora is German Blanco's homage to his great-grandmother, one of the first female miners in Spain, who raised him in Albares de la Ribera, a small village in Leon.

Here, in a tiny hamlet just outside the Bierzo DO, German makes pure wines from micro-vineyards that dot the landscape, and are usually planted with very old vines of a variety of different grapes: Palomino, Mencia, Tintorera, Merenzao, Godello, Garnacha... The high-altitude and the iron-rich clay soils of the area gives these mountain wines a great balance between a soft mouthfeel and firm tannins.  There is also a fair amount of granitic rocks in the terroir, and these are probably responsible for the floral, distinctive aromas of the wines. 

His line-up consists of a few single-vineyard labeled wines, as well as regional ones, and the production - under 10.000 bottles - comes from a mix of purchased fruit as well as from owned vineyards.  He farms organically and the wines, made in a tiny cellar as charming as his labels, are made from spontaneous fermentations in a variety of vessels, including amphorae, old foudres, and tanks.

For more about this talented winemaker, visit the Quinta Milú and La Bicicleta Voldadora pages.

BOWLER E-Zine Issue 1 | Q4 2020: Germán Blanco (Milú, Bicicleta) on his Bierzo Winery, Casa Aurora