Uncovering Galician Gold: Superb New Vintages from Ribeiro's Luis Rodriguez
11/30/11 -
To state a cliche: Luis Rodriguez is a man on a mission. In the old days, before the wines of Jerez achieved great fame on the Atlantic trade routes, Ribeiro was Spain's most sought after wine. The Romans grew grapes in Ribeiro, and there are records of renowned Ribeiro that date back to the 13th Century. During the reign of Phillip II, England became Ribeiro's biggest customer. The Spanish Armada shipwrecked the relationship, and England moved on to Portugal for wine. After a series of further setbacks in viticulture including civil war, phylloxera, and the widespread planting of the high-yielding and innocuous Palomino grape variety, Ribeiro, Galicia's crown jewel of wine, went into a sort of viticultural hibernation. With the help of viticultores like Luis, Ribeiro is experiencing a small renaissance. Luis realized a very important thing, namely that his hometown of Arnoia, where his grandfather made wine, still had plantings of native varieties on steep granite hillsides. In contrast to others in the region, Luis had access to old vines of historically significant grape varieties, and, along with a few other compatriots, felt that there was opportunity to revive the land and reclaim its once great glory. It seems to be working. The new vintages - 2010 for the Blanco and 2009 for the Tinto - are two of the most compelling wines I have tasted from Galicia. 2010 is one of the best vintages Galicia has seen in the last years, producing a delicately fragrant Blanco redolent of honeyed seashells, with excellent acidity and the material to age. 2009, with its warm and dry growing season, clearly benefited the A Torna Dos Pasas Tinto, with its red fruit flavors and excellent concentration. At an alcohol level of 12 degrees, it is fresh, smooth, silky, and very long. This is a wine that can age. A great example - a 2003, also from a fairly warm vintage, that I tasted at the winery a year and half ago was a surprise for me: meaty, balanced, and chock full of violets, black pepper, and leathery spice. A “wow” wine.
It is no wonder that Luis has started to receive some much-deserved recognition here in the States from our often misdirected mainstream wine press, but unfortunately he’s been virtually ignored in his native country. On the other hand, I have talked to several Spanish wine-makers including Sara Perez, Fernando Garcia, and others who cite Luis' wines as benchmarks. We hope that Luis will receive the praise he is due in Spain! In the meantime we will take as much of these wines as we can get! – CB
