Luis Rodriguez 'A Teixa' Blanco, 2018

Luis Rodriguez established his bodega in 1988 with the goal of making terruño-driven wines from indigenous grape varieties, such as Treixadura, Brancellao and Caiño that were on the verge of extinction at the time. Luis has slowly accumulated almost 6 hectares comprised of nearly 180 micro-parcels, most replanted by Luis using either seleccion massale or grafting onto old Palomino rootstock, and located on the southwest- facing, granitic hillsides of his hometown of Arnoia. Luis makes wine in the same cellar as his grandfather, where he utilizes native yeasts, judicious SO2, and practices élevage in steel tank, foudre and mostly used, larger French oak barrels.

The Ribeiro D.O. is an ancient Galician wine region located 45 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Portugal. Ribeiro had historically produced Spain’s most prestigious white wines, but in the early 20th century oidium, phylloxera, and war devastated the region and Ribeiro’s wines lost favor. Native vines were torn up, and Palomino was widely planted due to its higher yields. Cooperatives took over most of the production. By utilizing a mix of old-fashioned and modern winegrowing methods, Luis and a few others are responsible for the revitalization of artisanal Ribeiro winegrowing.

A Teixa is made from a single 1.2ha vineyard (Luis rents it from the widow of the original grower) located in the town of Ribadavia 5km north of the winery, and is comprised of the native grapes Treixadura plus a little Godello and Albariño. The grapes were hand-harvested, destemmed and pressed into his 2200 & 2300 liter foudres for fermentation and one year aging on fine lees, then lightly fined and filtered, bottled and aged an additional year before release.