Albariño: Coastal Farming and Atlantic Viticulture In Galicia, vines grow under Atlantic moisture, where rain is not an interruption but one of the governing facts of agriculture. The coast is cut by rías, the long tidal inlets that bring ocean air inland and keep humidity high through much of the growing season. In this setting, … Read more
Rías Baixas: Atlantic Wine in Galicia Rías Baixas begins with water. The Atlantic reaches into Galicia’s western coast through long estuaries called rías, where river water, sea air, fog, and rain meet before they move inland across small vineyards. This is one of Spain’s wettest wine regions, and the problem of ripening grapes here has … Read more
Galicia: Atlantic Weather, Fragmented Vineyards, and the Long Recovery of a Wine Region Galicia occupies the northwestern corner of Spain, facing the Atlantic and bordered by Portugal to the south, Asturias to the east, and the inland lands of Castile and León beyond its mountain barriers. That position has always set it slightly apart from … Read more
Spain’s DOs: Why Spain Has So Many Wine Regions? In Spanish wine, place often comes before country. Rioja, Rías Baixas, Ribera del Duero, and Jerez appear first. Those names belong to a legal system. In Spain, the most familiar unit in that system is the DO, short for Denominación de Origen. A DO ties a … Read more