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 and 894 registered growers.
Condado do Tea: Nothing to do with Earl Grey
Athough its name would make us think it has something to do with the eponymous brew, the Condado do Tea is actually named for the Tea River, which runs through it from north to south. A condado, or county, was originally an area under the rule of a noble–usually a count. Some condados still exist in Spain today, but in Rías Baixas there’s no Count of Tea. With or without a count, the name stuck around over the centuries, and eventually became one of the founding subzones of the Rias Baixas in 1988.
A Little Geography
Although Rías Baixas is famous for its Atlantic wines, the Condado do Tea subzone doesn’t have a coastline. Located slightly inland in the south of the province of Pontevedra, its southern border looks across the Miño river to Portugal.
The Condado’s vineyards are protected by the Dorsal Gallega mountain range to the north and east. These mountains have a moderating influence on the climate, working together with a cooling Atlantic influence that comes up through the Miño river. To the north, the foothills of the Serra do Suído near A Cañiza protect the zone from bad weather, and to the south the Miño descends along its course to the ocean.
A singular characteristic of the Condado’s topography is its series of alternating river valleys, separated by higher ground. These aren’t valleys formed by erosion, but by the products of tectonic shifts. Over millions of years, as plates pushed against each other and pulled apart, huge tectonic forces shaped the modern-day Condado do Tea. Huge areas of rock known as fault blocks came under great stresses as the plates came apart. Some became raised up and others lowered down into the ground. Geologists call these raised blocks horsts, and the lowered blocks grabens.
Over time, the lowered areas filled in with water and became river valleys, home to tributaries of the Miño like the Deva, Termes, Tea, Louro, and Tamuxe. These rivers begin in the Dorsal Gallega mountain range and flow in a N-S direction before emptying into the Miño.
The Miño River also plays an important role in the climate. Its waters funnel cool Atlantic breezes into the adjacent vineyards, many of which face south and receive the full brunt of the sun’s rays. The cooling effect of the Miño helps vines grow balanced grapes– not too acidic, but not too alcoholic.
The Condado do Tea's Soils
Most of the bedrock in the Condado is granitic, but there are also different types of schists and some sedimentary rocks in the extreme northeastern and southwestern corners of the subzone.
Although the Miño river forms a political divide between Spain and Portugal, the rock types between the Condado do Tea on the right bank of the river and the Monção and Melgaço zone of Vinho Verde DOC in Portugal are part of the same extended area of granite and schist.
Condado Stats
To be labeled as “Rías Baixas Condado do Tea,” wines must contain a minimum of 70% albariño and treixadura, with the other 30% made up of the other white grapes allowed in the Rías Baixas appellation. All the grapes must be grown and made into wine within the Condado subzone.
Wines from the Condado do Tea
The Condado do Tea produces both red and white wines.
White wines from the Condado tend to have aromas of riper fruit than their counterparts in the rest of Rías Baixas. The Condado’s inland position in comparison to the Salnés valley, together with lower levels of precipitation allows for earlier harvests. The slightly warmer climate also affects the expression of the wines, softening their acidity and lending more ripe citrus flavors to the whites. A tell-tale marker of Albariño from the Condado do Tea is an orange aroma, that can range from more delicate notes of orange blossom to aromas of canned mandarin oranges in syrup.
Red wines from the Condado: Like the rest of the Rías Baixas, the Condado do Tea produces plenty of white wines. But the area also has a long tradition of red wine production, especially in As Neves. Recently, wineries have begun to replant more hectares of native grapes like caíño tinto and sousón, in addition to experimenting with monovarietal red wines. They’re typically punchy, acidic Galician reds, with lower alcohol and aromas ranging from fresh cherry to red raspberry, with some vegetal notes as well.
Want to know more? Dive deeper into Rías Baixas’ subzones.
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