Mayela is a label by Bideona’s founders, Andreas Kubach MW and Sam Harrop MW, that reinterprets Rioja Alavesa’s grower tradition with a modern twist. Unlike traditional “cosechero” (grower) wines that are made via carbonic maceration, Mayela preserves terroir influences by fermenting grapes from the slopes of the Sierra Cantabria without carbonic maceration or oak. Andreas believes that carbonic maceration is a winemaking influence that can erase a sense of the place in the wine, so he opts for focusing on vineyard management and light extraction to achieve the desired drinkable style. The whole brand is made up of one wine bottled with six different labels featuring illustrations of their growers. The idea is to contribute to the preservation of traditional viticulture and to the sustainability of old vineyards in Rioja Alavesa, which has a high proportion of historic vineyards planted on hillside terraces. This wine is the ultimate food-friendly, quaffable Tempranillo. The grapes were hand harvested and then destemmed and placed into stainless-steel and concrete tanks for fermentation, which was carried out with a mix of indigenous yeast and a house cultured yeast strain. The wine was pressed off the skins and was sent back to fermentation vessels briefly before being bottled.