Bodegas Gerardo Méndez
Calle Galiñans, 10, 36968 Meaño, Pontevedra, España | bodegasgerardomendez.com
Bodegas Gerardo Méndez was one of 14 wineries that founded DO Rías Baixas in 1988. Gerardo Méndez was from a family of blacksmiths (ferreiro = blacksmith in Galician), and named his wine Do Ferreiro, or “From the Blacksmith.” His first vintage was in 1973, with his father, and he made the first vintage-labeled wine in 1986.
The winery is located in the village of Meaño, in the Val do Salnés subzone. Directly in front of the house is the 200+ year-old, pre-phylloxera Cepas Vellas (Old Vines) vineyard, home to the oldest documented Albariño vines in Rías Baixas. The family has a document dating from 1790 confirming the existence of the house and this extremely old vineyard, which yields the eponymous cuvée that’s come to define complex Albariño that can improve with age. As he acquired more vineyards, Gerardo began to vinify and separately release a Cepas Vellas cuvée in the 1995 vintage.
In 2015, Gerardo’s son Manuel Méndez took over as winemaker from his father, and daughter Encarna is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the winery. Since Gerardo’s children have been at the helm of the project, they've expanded the winery’s offerings to single-vineyard and single-soil-type wines.
The Méndez family farm 7 hectares of estate vineyards and another 7 hectares rented from local growers, all divided into 165 individual plots.
The Wines
Albariño Do Ferreiro 100% Albariño fermented in stainless steel and raised a minimum of 5 months on its fine lees.
Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas 100% Albariño fermented in stainless steel and raised a minimum of 11 months on its fine lees. In poor vintages, the Cepas Vellas grapes are incorporated into the flagship Albariño.
Do Ferreiro Adina 100% Albariño from five plots of 50+ year-old vines in the village of Sanxenxo (lugar Adina) on oxidized gneiss. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and raised a minimum of 9 months on its fine lees.
Do Ferreiro Lourido 100% Albariño from six plots of 85 year-old vines in the village of Cambados (lugar Castrelo) planted on xabre, or decomposed granite. Fermented in stainless steel tanks and raised a minimum of 9 months on its fine lees.
Do Ferreiro Tomada do Sapo 100% Albariño from a single vineyard planted in 1992 in Meaño (lugar Simes) initially trained in traditional emparrado trellis style on granitic soil. They uprooted the vineyard in 2012 and replanted it in January 2016 with a VSP system and high planting density. The first vintage of the relaunch was in 2020. Fermented in stainless steel tanks with a minimum of 9 months on its fine lees.