Harvests over five million kilos have been the norm in Ribeira Sacra for the past few years, but that’s coming to an end as of this year. The region’s regulatory council recently voted to lower the maximum yields for red grape varieties by about 20%, aiming to prioritize quality and respond to evolving market conditions. The cap will drop from 9,500 kg/hectare to 7,500 for red grapes, making Ribeira Sacra’s production limits the strictest of all Galicia’s wine appellations. White varieties are still in high demand, so no changes will be made to their yields (up to 12,500 kg/hectare). The new limits are expected to go into effect for the 2025 harvest.
The adjustment brings Ribeira Sacra more in line with appellations like Ribera del Duero, whose limit maxes out at 7,000kg/ha for reds, or Rioja, with a limit of 6,500 kg/ha (down to 5,000 kg/ha for single-vineyard wines). In contrast, Bierzo generally allows up to 11,000 kg/ha for red varieties, and other Galician regions such as Valdeorras and Monterrei allow higher thresholds of 12,500 kilograms per hectare for red varieties like Mencía.
Maximum yield limits aim to balance profitability with the quality expected of a wine with an appellation designation. They’re used as a ceiling, not a target. While it’s common for large-production, everyday wines to approach the maximum, lower yields are the norm for premium wines. Lower yields also create scarcity, which can lead to higher market prices—something Ribeira Sacra’s regulatory council is betting on to sustain the region’s labor- and cost-intensive heroic viticulture.
Ribeira Sacra’s president, Antonio Lombardía, described the decision as “a turning point in our strategy to maximize the quality of our wines.” The ultimate goal, he explained, is to position Ribeira Sacra wines in a price range that ensures vineyards remain profitable while preserving the region’s traditional, labor-intensive farming methods.
To support this goal, Ribeira Sacra is also asking the Consellería de Medio Rural to authorize green pruning in the next harvest, which would compensate growers for removing grape clusters before harvest, further reducing yields. The council sees green pruning as a practical option for growers with no contracts to sell grapes in the 2025 harvest.
Adiós to Vineyards on Flat Land
In addition to the new limits, the regulatory council is also tightening the rules for planting new vineyards. Starting August 1, 2025, new vineyard plantings on flat land (outside the Sil and Miño River canyons) will only be allowed if the grower already has planting rights. Otherwise, growers will only be allowed to plant a new vineyard if an equivalent vineyard in similar conditions is uprooted—as is common in the EU. On terraced slopes, new vineyards will only be allowed in areas where vines were historically documented.
Over the past few years, hundreds of hectares of vineyards have been planted on flat terrain, particularly in the villages of Pantón and Quiroga. Ribeira Sacra doesn’t distinguish wines from terraced vineyards from wines from vineyards on more easily-worked flat land, which means the wines with cheaper production costs directly compete with wines from terraced vineyards. The council hopes that the restrictions on planting combined with higher yield limits for white varieties could also help encourage growers to re-graft vineyards on flat land currently planted with red grapes to white grapes.
Beyond the perception of higher quality that steep vineyards bring to the wines, the regulatory council sees maintaining “heroic viticulture” as essential for the region’s reputation and tourism appeal. The changes will be implemented once Ribeira Sacra’s updated regulatory framework is approved by the Ministry of Agriculture for review through the Galician Consellería de Medio Rural.