Soutomaior

Soutomaior was the first new subzone to join Rías Baixas in 1996. It’s the smallest subzone by surface area and production, with only 12 hectares of vineyards, 11 growers, and 3 wineries.

Soutomaior is the only subzone in Rías Baixas made up of just one town: the entire production area is in the town of Soutomaior, which sits between the cities of Pontevedra and Vigo at the end of the Ría de Vigo. Like much of the rest of Rías Baixas, soils here are sandy, decomposed granite over granite bedrock, and poor in nutrients.

Soutomaior grows several grape varieties, including Albariño, Godello, Caíño Tinto, Mencía, Pedral, Sousón, Brancellao, and Loureira Tinta. However, Albariño dominates production, accounting for more than 97% of the white grapes and over 94% of all grapes harvested, including red varieties.

Wineries here don’t buy grapes from other parts of Rías Baixas DO: all wines from Soutomaior are made exclusively with grapes from within the subzone. However, not all of the grapes harvested stay there. About 80% of the grapes are made into wine in Soutomaior, while roughly 20% are sent to wineries in other subzones.