Natalia Rodriguez left her job as a lawyer to return to the countryside and try to make organic albariño. Twelve years later, she’s the first certified organic albariño producer in Rías Baixas. We sat down to talk about organic farming, the Condado do Tea, and what makes albariño special.
Albariño Day is an all-you-can-eat-and-drink-without-bursting marathon, complete with concerts, fireworks, and maybe the occasional full-frontal nudity. It’s one of the reasons why Albariño from Rías Baixas is world-famous today, but most people don’t know its origin story…
The people who are bored with the “what grows together, goes together” narrative obviously haven’t been to Galicia, or drunk Albariño with shellfish by the sea in an old man bar in A Illa da Arousa, or seen fleets of bateas floating in the Ría de Pontevedra while they walk through trellised vineyards. This is all to say that if there’s a perfect pairing in this world, it’s Albariño and shellfish. The brine and the wine, baby. And if there’s a perfect Albariño, it comes from Galicia.
The Salnés Valley is the most important subzone in the Rías Baixas DO. Known locally as O Salnés, it has three-quarters of the region’s growers and just over half the appellation’s vineyards. It’s also the subzone with the largest number of wineries: 113 out of Rías Baixas’ 178 wineries are in the Val do Salnés. © Noah Chichester, 2022. All rights reserved. …
The Condado de Tea, or County of Tea (pronounced “TAY-uh”), is a subzone of the Rías Baixas wine appellation located on the banks of the river Tea. It’s more inland and warmer than the Val do Salnés, and produces about 20% of the wines in Rías Baixas. It’s the second-largest subzone with just under 1,000 hectares of vineyards …
O Rosal (O ro-SALL) is a subzone of the Rías Baixas wine appellation located on the border with Portugal in the extreme southwest of Rías Baixas. It’s the DO’s third founding subzone, and also comes in third place in number of wineries and volume of production, with 540 hectares of vines. A Rosal by Any Other …
Soutomaior was the first new subzone to join Rías Baixas in 1996. It’s the smallest subzone by surface area and production, and the entire production area is in the town of Soutomaior. More to come!
The Ribeira do Ulla (“banks of the Ulla,” in Galician) subzone was the last to join the Rías Baixas Designation of Origin in 2000. It’s the largest subzone by surface area, and the only one that straddles the provinces of Pontevedra and A Coruña. Today Ribeira do Ulla produces around 10% of Rías Baixas’ albariño …
Rías Baixas (REE-us BYE-shas) is known all over the world for being the home of Albariño: a crisp, saline, acidic white wine that pairs with everything that comes from the sea. But it’s not just Albariño, and it’s not just white wine. Rías Baixas has a lot to offer. Ready to learn more? Read on for …
Read more “Rías Baixas: The Ultimate Guide to the Birthplace of Albariño”