Even the Roman gods knew how special this place called Ribera Sacra is. According to legend, the god Jupiter fell so much in love with Galicia for its beauty that he made the Miño River to visit it by sailing along its flow. His wife, Juno, became so jealous that in her anger she cut the land with a sword to disfigure it - gouging the earth and creating the canons of the Sil River - the river that runs through Ribeira Sacra. In some places, the slopes are so steep that they rise up to 500 meters straight out of the river. You can almost see the outline of Juno's sword in these jagged cliffs. It is so difficult to work these lands that during the harvest, they use carts on rails to lower the fruit to the road or the river below. From there some return to the winery by boat because it's not possible to climb the mountains carrying the weight of the grapes. The terroir here and is almost pure slate mixed with a little granite and calcareous soils giving the wines finesse and rich minerality. It's a place truly touched by the gods with a unique terroir in the world - it can be compared to Priorat with its scattered hills of slate, but in Priorat the climate is Mediterranean and it is much warmer. Also, it can be compared to the Mosel in Germany for its blue and red slate slopes, so steep that there are places where you can only go down with a harness. But in the Mosel the winter is long and difficult and it is mostly planted with white grapes. Both areas are similar, but Ribeira Sacra has its own beauty. Driving down the steep cliffs, you see almost nothing but the possible end of life in the river below. Here they practice heroic viticulture and the wines are also quite heroic.
Located in Galicia Spain, in the most northwestern corner of the peninsula, the autonomous community has the nickname "Green Spain" for its frequent rains, its emerald mountains and a plenitude of rivers. The Denominación de Orígen benefits from the humid and temperate climate of the Atlantic with a bit of continental influence. It is planted primarily with the Mencía grape with low percentages of Merenzao and Brancello. They are all red grapes native to the area that are very similar to the famous Pinot Noir of Burgundy because all of these varieties are from cool areas, which ensures that the skin of the grapes is thinner and the tannins are finer. The white wines are of low production with Godello, Loureira, Treixadura and some Albariño and Torrontés grapes, among others.
Sloping vineyards with the lane for carts full of grapes
As in all places in Spain where there are vineyards, the Romans passed through and implemented viticulture more than 2000 years ago. But it was during the 12th century that the vineyards flourished under the care of the monks. If we want to know where the terroir is to plant vineyards, we have to see where the monks did it. I have talked a little about the benefits of calcareous soils among others, but it is important to highlight that each soil has its positive attributes and slate soils, especially when mixed with granite and a little bit of limestone, make wonderful wines. In Ribeira Sacra, we found this mixture and the monks knew it. We add this unique soils, to the climate three quarters Atlantic and one quarter continental and we have an ideal mix for acidity, a long maturation with enough sun which result in extraordinary wines with lively flavors of cherry, raspberry, stone fruits and minerality that almost jumps out of the glass. It is not just the land here that is touched by the gods. It's also the wines!
It's important to mention something now about acidity. We already know from Blog X that acidity is the backbone of a wine and is what makes it age. Not only does it come from the pH of the soil and grapes, but the development of acidity is also promoted by a cool climate. That is why we talk so much about diurnal changes because the sun matures the sugars and phenolic profile, but cool nights help develop the essential acidity. As long as there is sun, a generally cool climate can make wines with the perfect acidity to balance and age them. Another thing that helps in aging a red wine is tannin. Over time in the cellar, the tannins begin to become softer while their molecular structure is something that maintains the structure of a wine. Careful! A lot of tannin does not mean that it will age well and light tannins does not mean that it will NOT age well. The important thing in both cases is that the wine has the acidity to last time in the cellar. Therefore, we can see that a Pinot Noir, with light tannins, can age for 40-50+ years as much as a Bordeaux wine, with more robust tannins. It does not have to be a concentrated wine to age. It has to be a wine with the correct acidity and be balanced in every way. A wine with green tannins that does not have acidity will not improve in the cellar, on the contrary, it will get worse. In the end, the important thing is that there is the acidity to keep it alive in the bottle over the years. Ribera Sacra wines have this capacity. Its cool climate maintains acidity and promotes fruit development with balanced phenolics.
This wine-growing area is a place that, like many parts of Spain, suffered a lot during the 20th century due to the world wars and its own civil war, and at the end of the 60s and 70s young people left to live in the cities. However, in the 90s some brave winemakers began to return to recover the vineyards here and make spectacular wines. When Jupiter finally forgave Juno for the damage she caused to his most beloved place in the world, they met in Os Peares where the Sil, Miño and Bubal rivers meet. I hope we see each other soon there to enjoy these wonderful wines together. In the meantime, I have some that I'm going to bring to Mexico for you. I'll let you know when they're on the way!
Photo: Ribeira Sacra Vineyards with the Sil River
