ribeiro

Ribeiro is a small district along the upper Mino (Minho) River in the Ourense provence in northwestern Spain’s Galicia region. The Minho flows southwest from here to form the westernmost segment of the Spanish-Portuguese border before discharging to the Atlantic at the Portuguese city of Caminha.

The first mention of viticulture in Ribeiro comes from the writings of Strabo in the 2nd century BCE, and Ancient stone wine presses dating from that period further prove the prevalence of winemaking during this period.

After the fall of the Empire and a several-century “dark age,” winemaking revived in the medieval period, when Christian monks founded several important monasteries in the Ribeiro region. These monks expanded viticulture to supply local monasteries with wine, and the monasteries became the main drivers of viticulture in the region. In addition to the monasteries, aristocratic families of large and medium-sized landowners also acquired vineyards in the region beginning in the 11th century.

By the 15th and 16th centuries, wine was Ribeiro's main export and was traded throughout Spain and Europe. To guarantee the quality of the wines being sold, the Ordinances of Ribadavia (1579) were written to codify wine-growing areas and aspects related to wine production and sales. This document is considered as a precedent for modern appellations of origin and is recognized by the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) as the first precursor to a geographical indication in Spanish law.

In the 19th century, the successive crises of powdery mildew, downy mildew, and phylloxera devastated the region. After the phylloxera epidemic ended, much of the region was replanted to disease-resistant and highly productive varieties like Palomino and Garnacha Tintoreira, to the detriment of the native varieties.

In 1932, Ribeiro became one of the first official Denominaciones de Origen in Spain with the passage of the Estatuto del Vino. In 1956, the Regulatory Council for D.O. Ribeiro was approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. Later a second regulation was published in 1976, which was modified in 2004, to include Viño Tostado as a protected product based on its historical production. Since the 1980s, Ribeiro has slowly been reestablishing and renovating plantations of the historical local varieties, including Treixadura,

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climate & terroir

Ribeiro is located in a transitional zone, with characteristics of a Mediterranean climate softened by the Atlantic influence due to its short distance from the ocean. Mountain ranges to the west and north of the wine region protect it from winds and rain from the Atlantic via the Foehn effect, increasing the continental character of Ribeiro's climate and increasing diurnal shift, which preserves freshness and encourages phenolic ripening.

Meanwhile, the maritime influence of Atlantic winds which enter Ribeiro via the Miño River creates a greater Atlantic character as the elevation rises, limiting grape cultivation to maximum of approximately 450 meters above sea level.

Average annual temperatures are about 58 degrees and average annual rainfall is about 36 inches. The vines receive a maximum of around 1900 hours of sunlight per year.

Most of Ribeiro's soils are granitic, with sandy loam textures. One of the most characteristic soils of the region is a type of decomposed granite known in Galician as sábrego. The region also has shale- and schist-based soils, as well as soils developed from sedimentary materials with more loamy textures.

Ribeiro has seen intense vineyard cultivation since ancient times. Many vineyards are planted on terraces called socalcos which reduce slopes and facilitate cultivation.Most soils in Ribeiro are poor in organic matter and acidic.

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