RIBEIRA SACRA

In the Ribeira Sacra’s dizzyingly high landscapes, near-vertical vineyards are perched above rivers. The stunning scenery – and the resulting wines – are an oenophile’s dream.

      A mosaic of stone and trees, the mountains stretches out toward the horizon, while the river slices through this unyielding mass of granite as if it were made of sponge. Peering down the pitched slopes of the Sil Canyon from the Cabezoás overlook – more than 700m high – you gain new respect for the incredible power of water.

      Vertiginous views are a hallmark of the Ribeira Sacra, a collection of small towns that mostly hug the Sil and Miño rivers in Galicia, Spain’s north-westernmost region. Galicia is often referred to as “green Spain” for its verdant landscapes, the product of frequent rainfall compared to elsewhere in Spain, but it’s these two rivers that have shaped the Ribeira Sacra, the region’s most inland corner. The name means “sacred riverbank” in the Galician language, a nod to both the topography and the area’s long monasterial history, dating to Roman times.

      It’s not the easiest terrain to cross, filled with narrow winding roads that wrap around hills and cut through stands of chestnuts and oaks. As you leave Cabezoás, you head west to the region’s main monastery, Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil. Nested high above the Sil River, Santo Estevo has been beautifully restored, and is now part of Spain’s national network of paradores. Although it’s first mentioned in documents from the 10th Century, the monastery is believed to be several centuries older than that.

      The vineyards are so steep that the grapes can only be harvested by hand. Winemaking took off after the arrival of the Romans, and the monastic orders that followed them. The region’s predominant grape is Mencía, traditionally used to make fresh, young reds, though winemakers are increasingly adding a little Brancellao, Sousón, and Caíño, and even aging some of these earthy, aromatic blends, as well as producing beautifully floral whites starring the Godello grape.

      Established as an official wine region in 1996, the Ribeira Sacra holds “heroic viticulture” designation, awarded by an Italian nonprofit that promotes and protects mountainous wine regions around the world. To qualify for the title, your terraced vineyards must have a minimum altitude of 500m and a gradient above 30%. Winemaker Puri Díaz Ferreiro casually refers to local vineyards as paredes (walls), which makes sense when you consider that a 70% slope is not unusual. She rightly marvelled at what must have gone into creating these terraces. “It was an immense job to build these walls and ensure they don’t collapse. They’ve lasted for centuries.”

      Most wineries here are small operations, like Díaz Ferreiro’s Val do Frade, based in the town of A Pobra do Brollón. Working alone, she grows grapes on two half-hectare plots, one of them perched on a luxuriantly green ridge high above the Sil River. During harvest, she hires extra hands to move her grapes to the Adegas de Vilachá complex 2km away, where she produces just 3,000 bottles per year of a young red made with Mencía. Now an ethnographic centre, these rustic cellars date to medieval times and were traditionally used by families to make and store wine for their own consumption. Every midday, folks would head there on foot, via a narrow path, and bring home enough wine for the day’s meals. While the complex has 42 separate cellars, just 12 are currently in use, and Díaz Ferreiro’s is the sole commercial operation. Her vineyards can only be accessed on foot, from above. 

      In the village of Belesar, Martín Martínez, established his Ecosacra winery in 2020. It is what’s known locally as an adega de garda (storage winery), where wine that’s been made elsewhere is kept in cool, north-facing cellars. More than three centuries old, his adega had been abandoned for 14 years when he bought and restored it, even reusing old wine barrels to make shelving and tables. It’s a beautifully rustic space overlooking the Miño River, with an outdoor patio where you can try his wines – a white made with the Godello grape and a red Mencía-dominated blend – while dining on local cheese, charcuterie and empanadas, accompanied by tomatoes, figs and cherries from his own garden.

      To reach Ecosacra, you book a tour that includes a magical journey on Martínez’s small boat. As you glide past forested riverbanks so densely green they could pass for Tolkien’s Shire, you are humbled by the view of those mindboggling vineyards; it is amazing how those first grape-growers ever conceived of farming this terrain. But even more remarkable is the canyon itself, a testament to the sheer force of water across geological time.

      To protect the very qualities that make the area so unique, government officials are beginning to take a more mindful approach, learning hard lessons from other parts of Spain where overtourism has sparked the rage of local residents.

      It’s not easy to balance environmental protection with the real economic needs of the Ribeira Sacra’s small towns, which might otherwise be abandoned, like so many in rural Spain. But in a region where survival has long depended on nature, there is still a deep connection to the environment, and many locals are focused on conserving what they’ve inherited.

      When Díaz Ferreiro first started growing grapes, some of her neighbours would describe the ways they pruned each plant in their vineyards. At the time, she couldn’t imagine anyone having such an intimate understanding of individual vines, but now she has become one of those people. “I don’t know how to explain it, but it is something that you just have to feel,” she said. “We are in contact with the earth, the plants and everything else around us. I’m part of this landscape.”

      Another “Bucket-list” destination!