Galicia is one of 17 regions of Spain, known as the “Autonomous community”. It occupies the Northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula and on two sides by the Atlantic ocean. In the South it borders with Portugal on the East by Castilla – Leon.
In Galicia there are five areas DO. If you go from West to East, is: Ribeiro, Ribeira Sacra, Monterrey and Valdeorras the pearl of the RIAs Baixas.
In Galicia the deep winemaking traditions brought here by the Romans and continued by the monks in the middle ages.
Today Galicia is best known for his wines from RIAs Baixas (Rias Baixas) – fine, penetrating, fruity, mainly from albariño.
In addition to Albarino, the main white varieties of the region include: Loureiro, torrontes, godello (godello), treixadura and caino Branco (port. Cainho Branco, Spanish Caiño Blanco) – local curiosity, which is often confused with Albarino.
Galician wine is frankly the same nature with Portuguese wines of the Minho valley, especially with the so-called “green wines” (vinho verde).
Slice the Galician coast generated by waves and winds of the Atlantic: cliffs alternate with bays, here called “RIAs”. The inner part of the region is densely covered with greenery and gradually ascends the hills to the East, the Cantabrian mountains, reaching a height of 2000m.
The region is often called the “green corner” of Spain and “land of a thousand rivers.” Most of the vineyards located along the river miño.
Cold, moisture-bearing winds from the Atlantic make Galicia one of the wettest parts of Spain. In coastal areas the annual rainfall is more than 1300mm of rainfall. Fortunately, the sun in Galicia is also missing an average of over 2000 sunshine hours per year. Without it, the grapes in such conditions it was hardly possible to ripen, and so very few red varieties are able to reach full maturity. Therefore, in Galicia, they produce mainly white wines, as monosortovye and blend.
Red wines are made in warmer parts – inland and farther from the sea. It’s mostly light wines from Mencia.
Based on Wine-Searcher