Ribeira Sacra is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) (''Denominación de Orixe Protexida'' in Galician) for wines located in the south of the province of Lugo and in the north of the province of Ourense, in Galicia, Spain. It extends over the territories of 20 different municipalities that conform a zone and entity called ''Ribeira Sacra'', which could be translated as "''Sacred Shore''". The vineyards are planted on the steep slopes of the valleys and canyons of the rivers Miño and Sil. The area acquired official Denominación de Origen status in 1996. Three types of varietal wine are produced: red Mencía, white Albariño and white

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 Godella ...

History

Its first name in Latin was Roboira Sacrata (Sacred Oak Grove) but a bad translation made in the XVII century by a monk, changed it to Ribeira Sacra (Sacred Riverside) until nowadays. It is generally believed that grape growing and wine production were introduced to the area by the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 ...

. It is said that the legendary spiced ''Vinos de Amandi'' were shipped to Rome along with the lampreys fished out of the river Miño, to be served at the table of the emperor. It is believed that Ribeira Sacra takes its name from 18 monasteries and hermitages that were founded in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

between the 8th and 12th centuries and which are located in the inaccessible river valleys. It was the monks who replanted the vineyards for their own consumption and maintained the grape-growing and wine-producing tradition until modern times. The most important monasteries are: * San Pedro de Bembibre * Taboada dos Freires * San Paio de Diomondi * Santo Estevo de Ribas de Miño * Santa María de Pesqueiras * Montederramo * San Pedro de Rocas * Ferreira de Pantón * San Paio de Abeleda * Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil * San Estevo de Ribas de Sil

Geography

The area is divided into five sub-regions, each with a different micro-climate, but in general all the soils are alluvial over a slate based subsoil. The sub-zones and the municipalities contained within them have been listed below (the sub-regions were split by parish and so some municipalities are listed more than once): # Chantada:

Portomarín Portomarín is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo. It has a population of 2008 (Spanish 2001 Census) and an area of 115 km². It is located on the pilgrimage route known as the French Way of the Camino de Santiago. The town o ...

, Taboada,

Chantada Chantada, is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. Chantada is situated on the left bank of the Río Asma, a small right-hand tributary of the Minho river, and on the main road from Ourense, 29 km S. by W., to Lugo, 45&n ...

, Carballedo, Peroxa # Amandi: Sober,

Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2017 it had a population of 18,783. Location Monforte de Lemos i ...

# Ribeiras do Miño: Paradela, O Saviñao, Pantón, Sober,

# Ribeiras do Sil: A Teixeira, Parada de Sil,

Castro Caldelas Castro Caldelas is a municipality in Ourense, in the Galicia region of northwestern Spain. It is located to the very north of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from ...

, Nogueira de Ramuín # Quiroga-Bibei:

, Pobra do Brollón, Quiroga,

Ribas de Sil Ribas de Sil is a town located in Galicia, in the Spanish province of Lugo. The monastery of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil, currently used as a Parador A ''parador'' (), in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries was an establishment where ...

, Pobra de Trives, Manzaneda,

San Xoán de Río San Juan de Río is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Ourense (province), Ourense province of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, an Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community in northwestern Spain. It is Location (geography), located ...

Climate

The climate in Ribeira Sacra DO is more continental than Atlantic, and has long hot summers and cool autumns. However, rainfall is high (around 800 mm per year). The sub-zones on the river Miño have more rain (900 mm) than the ones on the river Sil (700 mm). In general, the Miño area has a more Atlantic climate whereas the Sil area is more continental. Winds can be very strong as they are funnelled by the shape of the valleys.

Grapes

The Recommended red varieties are: Mencía, Brancellao, Merenzao, Sousón,

Caiño Tinto Caíño tinto (also known as Borraçal in Portuguese) is a red Galician wine grape variety that is also grown in Portugal's Vinho Verde wine region where it is known as Borraçal. In Spain, it is a permitted variety in the '' Denominación de Ori ...

, and

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

; also authorized are Garnacha tintorera, Mouratón. The Recommended white varieties are:

Loureira Loureira is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Vila Verde. The population in 2021 was 1106 in an area of 1.87 km². {{Infobox Portuguese subdivision, official_name=Loureira, image_shield=, coordinates={{coord, 41.630, -8.427, ...

Treixadura Treixadura or Trajadura is white Portuguese wine grape variety grown primarily in the Vinho Verde wine region of northeast Portugal and the Galician wine regions of Ribeiro and Rías Baixas in Spain where the variety is known as ''Treixadura' ...

, Dona Branca, Albariño, and

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 '' ...

. The vineyards are planted on terraces (known as ''bancadas'') in the narrow valleys of the rivers and are characterized by the production of grapes with a very concentrated flavor. The terraces are usually very small, making it impossible to mechanize the vineyard activities, such as pruning and harvesting. Access is often very difficult and sometimes only possible from the river.

References

External links