Regulatory Council

The tradition of Valdeorras as a wine-growing regions dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. Aided by the Mediterranean-Atlantic micro-climate, the Romans planted vines and built presses, creating a culture, secular today, which revolved around vineyards and the production of exquisite wines, whose virtues were extolled by pilgrims following the Way of St. James on their journey to Santiago de Compostela.

Ever since that time, the arduous task undertaken by winegrowers and producers would continue to bear its fruit until in 1945 Valdeorras was granted Denomination of Origin status by Ministerial Order. The Entity was born with the vocation of recovering autochthonous varieties such as Godello and Mencia, its main aims being to ensure quality, boost control, facilitate promotion and search for new ways in which to expand and market the product.

Today, winegrowing, and all that it entails, is governed by a Regulatory Council, a body that decides which wines are granted Denomination of Origin status, taking in the winegrowing borough councils of A Rúa, Carballeda de Valdeorras, Larouco, O Barco, O Bolo, Petín, Rubiá and Vilamartín.

The production areas take up a large part of the basins of the rivers Sil, Xares and Bibei. The climate is drier here than in the rest of Galicia, providing a Continental-Atlantic micro-climate. The average temperature is 11ºC and the annual rainfall ranges from 850 to 1.000 mm.

Soils are varied, from slate-based shallow soils to granite-based soils, richer in sand, to terraced sediment-based soils, abundant in stone.  This soil diversity allows the region to boast two monovarietal wines. The most emblematic is a Godello white, with its defined fruity aromas, and yellow, golden or straw colour. It has a good structure and is intense and full in the mouth, and has an average alcoholic content of 12.5º. The most outstanding reds are made from Mencía, with an intense purple colour, and an elegant fruity aroma, light and tasty, with a good balance between alcohol content and acidity, appetising, and a long and intense finish.

The authorised grape varietals or “castas” are: For white wines, preferentially Godello, and then Dona Branca and Palomino or Jerez. For reds, preferentially Mencía and Souson, although also Brancellao, Merenzao or María Ardoña, Negreda, Garnacha tintorera, Alicante, Tempranillo and Grao Negro.

After years of exhaustive research, the introduction of new technological advances and the modernisation of the production process, the wines of Valdeorras can now be proud to be among the best wines in Spain and are exported throughout the world.

Today, the responsibility of producing our wines falls to the wineries registered with the Regulatory Council: made up of the men and women who have been capable of combining secular tradition and modernity to maintain and guarantee the origin and quality of wines that are the very essence of a land..

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