Camino de Santiago Hikers Led by Restaurant Tycoon Andy Pforzheimer Spend a Day With Gerry Dawes in Spectacular Ribeira Sacra.

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Mencía vineyards on the Miño River in Belesar, Chantada, Ribeira Sacra, Galicia, Spain.
 Photo by Gerry Dawes

May 12. 2017

Camino de Santiago, Day 39, Part 2.  Edited notes from Andy Pforzheimer, who for six weeks was walking the Camino with his wife Zelie and with several friends who have dropped in and out to walk part of the Camino with them.

Gerry Dawes is a raconteur, bon vivant*, and liberal redneck. . . a man who knows half as much about Spanish wine as he says he does**, and twice as much as anyone else in the English-speaking world.  

GD Editor's Notes:   *Spanish gastronomy and wine research is Hell, but someone has to do it.
**I know as much as I say I do.  

 See the rest of Camino de Santiago Hikers here

The Four Black Bulls of the Spanish Wine Apocalypse: Severe Weather Hits Numerous Spanish Wine Regions Causing Potentially Catastrophic Losses in Several Regions

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For the past several weeks, The Four Black Bulls of the Spanish Weather Apocalypse have been raging through the vineyards of Northern Spain wreaking havoc. Their names are Helada (Frost), Lluvia (Torrential Rain), Pedrisco (Hail), and Viento (Wind)  have caused dim prospects for the 2017 wine grape harvest in areas such as La Rioja Alta, La Rioja Alavesa, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo, Ribeiro, Valdeorras, Ribeira Sacra and Monterrei and some losses in the Albariño vineyards of Rías Baixas. 

The Black Bull of Spain looms over one of Luís Alberto Lecea´s frost-damaged vineyards around the Rioja Alta village of San Asensio, May 7, 2017.  The leaves on the vines nine days later are secondary growth that will produce little and are, under normal conditions, usually stripped off the vines by the grape farmers.  All photo by Gerry Dawes©2017.

And in their wake, they have brought a great wave of demoralization, one which the brave men and women who farm the vineyards of Atlantic Spain will no doubt overcome.  Still, at this point, many predict crop losses of from 70-90 percent.

In mid-April, high winds in Galicia ripped off branches off vines in Rías Baixas according to Manolo Dovalo, owner of Adegas Rozas, who produces one of Galicia’s greatest artisan Albariños.    

 

Then on the night of April 28 a late frost that will go down in the history of the viticulture of this region hit La Rioja during the night of April 28 devastated much of La Rioja Alta and La Rioja Alavesa, causing 90% to 100% damage to this year’s grape crop prospects.  Luis Albert Lecea, owner of Bodegas Lecea in San Asensio, told me, “I have bad news.  There will be no wine next year.”  

 

 

Luis took me on a tour of his devastated vineyards.  Lecea and his crew laboriously laid water lines into his vineyards and spent 800 Euros on gasoil (diesel) to run the pumps, trying to irrigate the vines, which had also been suffering from drought, hoping that the water would provoke the growth of more leaves to replace those shriveled by the frost. 

The irony of Lecea´s frost-damaged vines, with no leaves left, surrounded by the dried-up remains of once perfectly healthy ripe grapes (the now dried-up dark bunches on the ground) that had to be cut off and left to dry up on the ground to meet the Rioja D.O. yield require- ments during the 2016 harvest.  Had the producers been able to use these perfectly good grapes to lay in more stocks, they would have been compensated for the big losses they will suffer from this frost in 2017 and maybe beyond.  The new grape leaves are secondary shoots that will produce little or no grapes and are under normal conditions are usually stripped off the vine.   All photos by Gerry Dawes©2017.

 Rows of vines belonging to Bodegas Lecea in San Asensio where leaves should be beginning to flourish by May 7, 2017, when this picture was taken, are almost bare, their leaves frozen and withered by the cold wave on the night of August 28, 2017.  All photos by Gerry Dawes©2017.

Three days later, I arrived in Villafranca del Bierzo and found roads still being cleared from mud slides, the Camino de Santiago in front of La Puerta del Perdón strewn with rocks washed down by the torrential rains, and mud across many roads, plus reports of hail and frost that, especially in lower lying vineyards, will mean a very short crop in 2017.

Vine trunk burst caused by late April frost.

Photo courtesy Gregory Pérez, Bodegas y Viñedos Mengoba, Bierzo.

On May 30, a month after the frost hit, star Bierzo producer Gregory Pérez, owner-winemaker at Bodegas y Viñedos Mengoba, told me in a telephone conversation: “Now is when we are really beginning to see the damage from the frost, the vinos are drying up, the bark of the trunks is bursting. . . and the only thing we can do is severely re-crop the salvageable vines, though we will have to rip out some that were totally killed, re-plant and begin anew.  “It has been a wide spread disaster—not only in Bierzo, but in la Rioja, Ribera del Duero and many parts of Galicia.”  

Ironically, where I saw the mud slides and rocks strewn across the road near La Puerta del Perdón in Villafranca del Bierzo was a wall mural of a hiker with the words AVE FENIX alongside.  It appears that the vineyards of much of northern Spain will have to do just that, rise like the Phoenix from the ruins of the 2017 frost, regroup and battle their way back what is sure to be a very hard economic blow to their winemaking efforts. 

 AVE FENIX: Mural on a wall just beyond the famous La Puerta del Perdón in Villafranca del Bierzo on the Camino de Santiago.   One hope that Spain´s grape farmer - winemakers will rise like the Phoenix from the devastation of the weather this Spring.  All photos by Gerry Dawes©2017.

 

Later the same day, I visited Hacienda Ucediños in O Barco de Valdeorras, whose owners Eladio and Marcos Santalla Freile reported that one of their prime Godello Vineyards was hard hit by the frost and will produce little or no wine and they were also hit by torrential rains, but even at that they were luckier than many.  

Eladio Santalla Freile and Marcos Santalla Freile with a bottle of their truly stunning Hacienda Ucediños Valdeorras Godello 2016, which was a great match for a dozen remarkably good zamburiñas, or baby scallops, a cazuela or two of gambas al ajillo and a wooden plate of exceptional pulpo a feira, steamed octopus dressed with olive oil, Spanish pimentón (paprika) and sea salt. At Pulperia El Dorado in O Barco de Valdeorras, May 10, 2017.

 

At D’Berna in Córgomo in Valdeorras, higher up than some of their neighbors, escaped the frost, but were hit with mudslides during a downpour in which three inches of rain fell in just a couple of hours and brought tons of topsoil down from the vineyards that surround the winery and deposited several feet of mud and rocks in the parking lot at the side of the winery, buried their cooling unit and knocked out their water.  

When I arrived at D'Berna, several members of the family were hand shoveling the mud into wheel barrows and taking it away, while a front loader Caterpillar plowed mud out of the parking lot and road leading into the winery. 
  

 


And, in Ribeira Sacra, where I was last week, more reports of hail and torrential rains.  José Manuel Rodríguez, President of the Ribeira Sacra D. O. and producer of the superb Décima Mencía, suffered damage to one of his prime vineyards to add to the loss of much of his crop last year to a powerful hail storm.   Here there were also reports of frost and more damage from hail and torrential rains. 

Undamaged vineyards of Manuel Rodríguez, President of the Ribeira Sacra D. O. and producer of the superb Décima Mencía, who lost much of his crop to a severe hailstorm last year.

In mid-April, high winds in Galicia ripped off branches of vines in Rías Baixas according to Manolo Dovalo, owner of Adegas Rozas, who produces one of Galicia’s greatest artisan Albariños.   I spent an afternoon with my Bodegas Artesanas Albariño producers in Rías Baixas, where though Dovalo of Adegas Rozas reported some wind damage in his vineyards, all six of my producers seemed to have escaped serious crop-crippling damage. 

  

Manolo Dovalo, producer of Rozas (third from left), with the Bodegas Artesanas Albariño producers' wines, which are some of the greatest Grand Cru quality white wines produced in Galicia.

 

 

Not so in Ribeiro, to the east and inland, where Manolo Formigo (pictured above) showed me frost damage and estimated that he may lose as much as 80% of 2017’s expected production.

In Monterrei, one of the last regions I visited Antonio Triay, his wife Puri García and their son Ivan showed me their frost-damaged vines and were very demoralized.  They are small very high quality producers of Triay Godello and Mencía and they believe that 85-90% of their 2017 crop was wiped out in the late April frost that hit the Monterrei D.O. particularly hard. 

 Antonio Triay and his son Ivan showed me their frost-damaged vines and were very demoralized.

All photos by Gerry Dawes©2017.

Of all the regions I have visited so far, Viña Catajarros in Cigales and José Pariente in Rueda reported to me when I visited those area that they suffered little or no damage and, early in my trip, southern Navarra seems to have escaped damage.  In Corella (Navarra) Carlos Aliaga at Bodega Aliaga reported no damage.   

Ironically, the wall mural of a hiker with the words AVE FENIX was a harbinger.  It appears that the vineyards of much of northern Spain will have to do just that, rise like the Phoenix from the ruins of the 2017 frost, regroup and battle their way back what is sure to be a very hard economic blow to their winemaking efforts.

All photos by Gerry Dawes©2017.
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About Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià. 

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés. 

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009. 

 

Pilot for a reality television series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.
 

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Customized Culinary, Wine & Cultural Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain  

Gerry Dawes can be reached at  gerrydawes@gmail.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@spanishartisanwine.com

Ribeira Sacra Tasting Notes with Photographs

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Basilio Izquierdo, who made the top Rioja CUNE wines for 30 years, tasting wines in Ribeira Sacra. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012

Ribeira Sacra Tasting Notes

Ribeira Sacra Summum, the highest red wine designation must contain a minimum of 85 per cent preferred red varieties, 60 per cent of which must be mencía. 

Summum wines can be sold as a designated varietal only if the wine contains 85% of that variety.

White Summum wines must be made entirely from the preferred varieties.  

Wines with just a non-Summum designation must contain at least 70% of preferred varieties and those that do not pass the Summum analytical and organoleptic tests are classifed simply as Ribeira Sacra. 

Ribeira Sacra Denominación de Origen (DO) Regulatory Council President José Manuel Rodríguez, 
owner-winemaker of Décima. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

(Adega is Gallego for bodega, or wine cellar)

*Tasted at the bodega
**Tasted at outdoor wine fairs in Chantada and Castro Caldelas, Ribeira Sacra.
 
*Adega Algueira, Doade - Sober (Lugo) Amandi subzone (Raúl Pérez, consultant)

Fernando González of Adegas Alguiera. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Algueira Blanco $22 (Plurivarietal) 2008 Summum (40% godello, 40% albariño, 20% treixadura;13%) Beautiful nose of white peach, honeysuckle and minerals.   Silky and rich with white peach flavors and a mineral finish.  93 pts.
 
Algueira 2006 Summum $30 (90% mencía, 10% merenzao; aged 10 months in 3 yr. old oak; some stems left in; 14%)  Somewhat closed, attractive nose of fruit, oak and minerals.  A rich, tannic, juicy, mineral-laced, somewhat oaky, but balanced  that needs three years in bottle.  92 points. 

 

Author tasting wines with Raúl Pérez at Adegas Alguiera in Amandi, Ribeira Sacra, July 2012. 

Photo by Fernando González of Adegas Alguiera.

*Adega Moure, Escairón (Lugo) Ribeiras do Minho

José Manuel Moure, owner of Adegas Moure, producers of Abadia da Cova, 

which is one of the most spectacularly situated vineyards in Riberia Sacra. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Abadia da Cova Albariño 2008 Summum $22 (100% albariño; 12.5%)
White peach and melon nose.  Dry and well balanced with peachy, melony flavors and a long, stony, mineral finish.  89 points.

Abadia da Cova Mencía 2008 Summum $25 (100% mencía )
Nice nose of ripe fruit, graphite.  Cabernet franc-like with sweet black currants, dark chocolate and minerals, bitter finish.  88 points.

**Adegas Chao do Couso, Pobra de Trives (Orense), Quiroga-Bibei (Raúl Pérez, consultant) 

 

Chao Do Couso Soutollo Tinto Ribeira Scara, Restaurante O Canton, El Ferrol. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Soutollo Mencía 2007 Summum $30 (13.5%) Ripe black currants, graphite and horse barn rusticity in the nose.  Smooth, sweet currant fruit with graphite minerality and structure.  Good food wines.  89 points. 

Alcouce Mencía 2006 Summum $25? (13.5%) Nose of oak and minerals.  Big, rich, sweet, smooth with black and red currant fruit and a minerality obscured by oak tannins.   88 points.
 

Bodegas y Viñedos Raúl Pérez (Made at Pedro M. Rodríguez Pérez, Sober (Lugo), Amandi 

Raúl Pérez at Adegas Alguiera in Amandi, Ribeira Sacra. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Raúl Pérez draws a sample of red wine in Bierzo. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

El Pecado 2007 Ribeira Sacra $75 (sold as Guímaro Barrica in Spain; says 100 per cent mencía on the label, but is 80 per cent mencía, 10 per cent caíño tinto and 10 per cent garnacha tintorera; fermented in 1,500 liter egg-shaped barrels from Austria for 12 months with battonage; 13.5%).  
Ripe, extracted red fruits, oak and some minerality.  Deep extracted attractive red currant fruit, very juicy acidity, rustic touches, oak and minerals, a laudable example of a modern Spanish wine made to fit a commercial profile.  93 points. (Note:  This wine has been rated by some as high as 98 points, but while I find it to be a good wine, it seems not to be a prime example of Ribeira Sacra.) 

**Adegas Costoya, A Teixeria (Ourense), Ribeiras do Sil (“Enology” by Enológica Témera, S.L., Jorge González, a Ribiera Sacra native.)
   

Carlos Costoya with his wine, Alodio (he also produceds Thémera), 

at the Fira do Vinho in Castro Caldelas 2009. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009.

Carlos Costoya's wife (r) opening a bottle of Alodio at La Fira do Vinho in Castro Caldelas. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Alodio Mencía 2007 Summum $15 (13%) Graphite and currants in the nose.  Delicious, full-flavored currant, cherry, pomegranate and dark chocolate flavors, lots of minerals and no oak, all balanced by good acid levels and moderate tannins for structure.  92 points.  Exceptional value.
        
Thémera 2005 Summum $25 (Mencía; aged briefly in acacia and chestnut; 13%) (Note to editors: sic, spelling differs maddeningly from Enológica Témera) Light oak, ripe red fruit, dark chocolate and mineral nose.  A wonderfully delicious wine with deep, rich cherry, cranberry and pomegranate flavors; a superb balance of acid, fruit, dark chocolate, light oak marking and minerals.  94 points.  Very good value.
 
D. Ventura, Losada Fernández, Ferreira de Pantón (Lugo), Ribeiras do Minho
(Consultant Gerardo Méndez of Rías Baixas’s Do Ferreiro; some of these wines may have small percentages of Brancellao and Garnacha; all are incredible bargains.)

Gerardo Méndez, Do Ferreiro. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Viña do Burato 2008 Summum $20 (80-year old vines from Viña de Balboa vineyard, Minho; mencía; slate/granite; non-certified organic; 12%) Nice nose of pomegranate, currants and minerals.  Delicious, eminently drinkable pomegranate and currant fruit with wonderful bracing minerality.  Exemplary, young Ribeira Sacra with loads of flavor at low alcohol and with no oak.  92 points.
 

Pena do Lobo 2007 Summum $23 (Amandi region vineyard; mencía; granite; non-certified organic; un-oaked; 13%) Nice ripe currants and pomegranate tinged with graphite in the nose.  Superb balance of perfectly ripe currant and pomegranate fruit and a compelling minerality reminiscent of Graves or Chinon.  Calls you back to the glass again and again.  94 points.
 

Viña Caneiro 2007 Summum $26 (Doade/Amandi region vineyard; mencía; slate; non-certified organic; un-oaked; 13%)  Lovely, haunting Ribeira Sacra nose of red fruits and minerals.  Exceptional, complex balance of rich wonderful red fruits (pie cherries, red currants, pomegranate) and a long, lingering mineral finish, no oak to mar it.  A stunningly good wine with few or any flaws and a steal at the price.  96 pts.
 

*Dominio do Bibei, Manzaneda (Ourense), Quiroga-Bibei (Sara Pérez and René Barbier, Jr., consultants)

 

Dominio do Bibei owner Javier Domínguez at his winery in the Quiroga-Bibei subzone. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

La Pola Godello Summum 2008 (with Dona Blanca grapes; 12.8%)
Somewhat tropical nose.  Spicy and complex with rich, sweet white peach and good acidity.  93 pts.  (Also tasted was the La Pola 2004, a blend of 60% Godello, 40% Dona Blanca, which was at the quality level of a Meursault.)

Dominio do Bibei owner Javier Domínguez at his winery in the Quiroga-Bibei subzone. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

La Lama 2004 Summum (mencía, garnacha, moratón; 13%)
Nose of exotic fruits and minerals.  Impressive on the palate with fresh acidity, moderate alcohol and pretty raspberry/black cherry fruit.  91 points.

 

           

Javier Domínguez also employs local in-house talent at Dominio do Bibei. Laura Lorenzo, with Suso Prieto Pérez, diligently helps to manage the vineyards 
and monitor the development of the wines. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Finca Míllara Bodegas y Viñedos, Pantón (Lugo), Ribeiras do Minho
 

Finca Míllara 2007 $45  (mencía; 13%)  Nose of graphite, ripe fruit and oak.  Soft up front, but rustic, with some ripe red fruits and oak in the finish.  87 points.
 

Guímaro, Pedro M. Rodríguez Pérez, Sober (Lugo), Amandi (Raúl Pérez, consultant) 

    

Raúl Pérez. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

*Guímaro Mencía 2008 Summum $15 (Contains some caíño tinto; 13.5%)
Light toast, red fruits and minerals in the nose.  Gutsy, rich and fruity with black currants, cherries, a slate minerality shored up with skin tannins and light oak.  A delicious crowd pleasing wine that is more akin to a Bierzo wine than Ribeira Sacra.  90 points.  Great value.      
 

Guímaro B2M 2007 Summum $29  (Mencía field-blended with small amounts of caíño tinto; aged 14 months in oak; 2500 bottles made; 13.5%) Nose of deep, ripe pomegranate, oak and minerals.
Brassy, gutsy, big, sweet cola and pomegranate fruit; oaky with lots of minerals.  Delicious, but a bit too much of a good thing and more like a Bierzo wine than a Ribeira Sacra.  Very similar to El Pecado 2007 [see note] at $25 less .)  93 points.

 

*Pena das Donas, Pombeiro, Pantón (Lugo), Ribeiras do Minho

 

Riberas do Sil, in the lower Sil in the Ribeiros do Minho area where Pena Das Donas is located. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Antonio Lombardia, one of the owners of Adegas Pena Das Donas, who makes the stellar Almalarga Godello. 
With him a his vineyardist-partner, Jesus Vázquez Rodríguez and visitor Basilio Izquierdo, 
who made the top Rioja CUNE wines for 30 years. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Almalarga Godello 2008 Summum $21 (13%) Beautiful nose of lime, white peach and minerals.  Soft, silky and well balanced with lovely, sweet white peach fruit, and a haunting, lingering bitter almond and mineral finish.  93 points (This summer I drank the 2006 Almalarga and rated it 96 points.) Exceptional value. 

Verdes Matas Mencía 2007 Summum $21 (100 per cent mencía; 12.5%)
Pomegranate, currant and mineral nose.  Balanced, perfectly ripe and rich, with plenty or juicy cranberry, pomegranate and currant flavors, dark chocolate and a long, complex, mineral-laced finish.  93 points. 

 

Antonio Lombardia, one of the owners of Adegas Pena Das Donas, who makes the stellar Almalarga Godello. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

**Peza do Rei, César Enríquez Diéguez, A Teixera (Ourense), Ribeiras do Sil

César Enríquez Diéguez, owner and son of the founder of Peza do Rei at the Fira do Vinho in Castro Caldelas. 

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

Peza do Rei Blanco 2008 $23 (70% Godello, 20% Treixadura and 10% Albariño; 13%)
White stone fruit, minerals.  Delicious, sweet white peach fruit with lime, honeysuckle, stony minerals and a long, acid-laced finish.  89 points.  Good value.

 

Peza do Rei Colheita 2007 $40 (mencía; 12 months in French oak; 13.5%) Oak and ripe fruit nose.  A big mouthful of ripe, rich currant fruit, tarry licorice flavors, low acid and good minerality peeking through an oaky finish.  A wine with market appeal, but not particularly Ribeira Sacra typicity.  88 points.

(More Ribeira Sacra tasting notes for wines not in the American market to follow.)

About the author

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand prize in 2009 and received the Association of Food Journalists 2009 Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television

series on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Culinary Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@hotmail.com