Rías Baixas is a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) (''Denominación de Orixe'' in Galician) for wines located in the province of

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...

and the south of the province of Corunna in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It is renowned for its white wines made from the

Albariño Alvarinho () or Albariño () is a variety of white wine grape grown in Northwest Portugal (Monção and Melgaço) and Galicia (northwest Spain) where it is also used to make varietal white wines. In Portugal it is known as Alvarinho, and som ...

grape variety.Rías Baixas Wines
/ref> Its headquarters is located in the city of

History

It is believed that the Albariño grape was introduced to the area in the 12th century by the Cistercian monks of the Monastery of Armenteira. The sub-zones of ''Rosal'' and ''Condado'' have a long history of grape growing and wine production and have their own traditional styles. The ''Salnés'' sub-zone only recently began to produce Albariño wines, for local sales to bars and restaurants. Rías Baixas acquired its official status as a ''Denominación de Origen'' (DO) in 1988. This replaced the earlier ''"Denominación Específica Albariño"'' status which had been granted in 1980. Its ''Consejo Regulador'' is based in the city of Pontevedra.

Geography

The DO is divided into five sub-zones, four of them in the province of

and one in the south of the province of

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and ...

Val do Salnés

''Val do Salnés'' is located on the lower reaches of the river Umia and centred on the town of

Cambados Cambados is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra. It is known for its historical monuments, its seafood and the famous white wine, Albariño Alvarinho () or Albariño () is a variety of white wine grape grown in ...

. The landscape is of low undulating hills and the vineyards are planted both on the slopes and on the flat valley floors. The soil is generally rocky and alluvial.

O Rosal

''O Rosal'' is located further south, along the Portuguese frontier in the basin of the river Miño and extends from the Atlantic coast inwards towards the town of Tui. The vineyards here are planted on terraces on the banks of the Miño. The soils are alluvial.

Condado do Tea

''Condado do Tea'', in the west, extends eastwards from Tui along the Miño valley up to the neighbouring Ribeiro (DO). The landscape is more abrupt and consists of several small river valleys. The soils are granite and slate based.

Soutomaior

The ''Soutomaior'' sub-zone was incorporated into the Denominación de Origen in 1996 and is located just south of the city of

. The soils are light and sandy, and covered with granite.

Ribera de Ulla

The ''Ribera de Ulla'' sub-zone, to the north of Pontevedra was incorporated recently in 2000. The soils are mainly alluvial.

Climate

The climate is Atlantic, with wet winters and sea fog. In general rainfall is high and the temperatures mild. In general, maximum temperatures in summer rarely usually exceed 30 °C and only drop to 0 °C in December and January. The coldest areas are Ribera do Ulla and Val do Salnés due to their proximity to the coast. The warmest is Condado do Tea where temperatures in summer sometimes approach 40 °C, but the winters are cold with frequent frosts and rainfall of over 2,000 mm a year. Strong winds can occasionally cause problems for the vineyards, especially those located on the west face of the coast. Frosts, hailstones and summer heat can also cause complications.

Grapes

The regulatory Council (''Consejo Regulador'') of the Rias Baixas DO currently authorises twelve different grape varieties, though Albariño represents over 90% of all vines planted. *Authorised white grapes:

, Loureira blanca, Treixadura, Caiño blanca,

Torrontés Torrontés is a white grape variety, mostly produced and known in Argentine wine, producing fresh, aromatic wines with moderate acidity, smooth texture and mouthfeel as well as distinctive peach and apricot aromas on the nose.Robinson, Jancis ''V ...

and

Godello Godello is a white variety of wine grape grown in northwestern Spain, in particular in Galicia. The Gouveio found in northern Portugal is thought to be the same grape variety. The origins of Godello variety are located in the town of Godell ...

*Authorised red varieties: Caiño tinto,

Espadeiro Espadeiro is a red Portuguese wine grape planted primarily in the Minho region for making Vinho Verde. It is also grown across the border, in Galicia (Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escu ...

, Loureira Tinta, Sousón, Mencía and Brancellao The vines are trained along granite posts (called ''parrales'') and wires so as to protect them from humidity and to maximise their exposure to the sun in summer. Over 90% of the wines produced are white, predominantly using the Albariño grape variety.

References

External links

Official website of DO Rias Baixas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rias Baixas (DO) Wine regions of Spain Galicia (Spain)