Amandi (“a-MAWN-dee”), is a subzone of the Ribeira Sacra wine appellation located on the northern bank of the river Sil. It’s the second-smallest subzone with 190 hectares of vineyards and 328 registered growers. Despite its size, it has the most wineries of all the subzones.
Amandi has some of the most stunning scenery in the Ribeira Sacra, as travelers quickly discover as they drive along the winding road that descends into the Sil river canyon. Its name comes from Latin and translates roughly to “land worthy of loving.” People have been loving the land and making wine in Amandi for centuries, and its wines were famous throughout Galicia well before the Ribeira Sacra appellation was founded in 1996.
A Little Geography
Amandi is located on the right bank of the Sil river, on the north side of the famous canyon and its steep slopes. Its terrain is marked primarily by the slopes of the Sil canyon, although the subzone extends to the flat land above the canyon as well.
On the right bank of the Sil, slopes are mostly south-facing, but since Amandi follows the curvatures of the river some slopes face other directions as well. They vary in steepness from 30º to near-vertical in some places.
The subzone extends over several parishes in two towns: Sober (parishes of Amandi, Doade, Lobios, Pinol, Santiorxo, Barantes, Bolmente, Anllo) and Monforte de Lemos (parish of Marcelle). There’s no denying Amandi’s beauty, but it boggles the mind to imagine that the trees and scrubby brush that still cover much of the canyon walls hide centuries-old terraces that have been abandoned to time.
Amandi's Climate and Soils
This subzone has the same Mediterranean-continental climate as the rest of Ribeira Sacra, but some of its slopes have a truly Mediterranean microclimate. Factors like exposure, sunlight, and altitude allow orange trees to flourish where in other parcels the vegetation is better adapted to cooler temperatures. Some have more of a head start than others, but growers are beginning to understand how to read their parcels and bring out their individual micro-terroir.
Amandi’s soils are a mix of granite and slate, with some areas of schist as well. Most of its vineyards have a southern orientation, which lets them soak up the sun’s rays for most of the day and achieve better ripening. Despite this general southern exposure, the curves of the Sil mean that some parcels are partially east or even west-facing. Growers have to take this into account in their work in the vineyard.