Telmo Rodriguez - Gaba do Xil Mencia, Valdeorras

Gaba do Xil Mencia, Valdeorras

Telmo Rodriguez started his most recent project Valdeorras, even though it was the first region he visited at the beginning of the 1990s. After visiting several local towns, he came away greatly impressed, especially after meeting a grower who still pruned his vines using an implement from the Middle Ages. Telmo is convinced that the meeting with the grower was the catalyst to them working in the region. 
 
The vineyard is called La Falcoeira, in the town of Santa Cruz. It is an ancient vineyard, planted with a mixture of varieties, but Telmo Rodriguez has focused its work on the native varieties, Godello and Mencia.  Dotted with chestnut trees mixed with rockrose, the old granitic terraces barely have enough space to squeeze in the odd row of vines, following the folds of the mountain that plunge into a tributary of the River Sil.
 
Phylloxera did enormous damage to this vineyard area but today the surviving plots are achieving amazing results.  Telmo believes that the area has enormous potential, and could be one of the great discoveries from the past.

  • 2010 Vintage

    Made from 100% Mencia, Gaba do Xil Mencia is grown in shallow soils, developed from granites, with steep slope terraces facing south, west, and northwest.  The stony coarse soils are low fertility, acidic, and low water retention capacity, forcing the vines to struggle and limiting yields.

    • "Fine quality: a supple, full bodied, well balanced wine with moderate richness and complex character (black pepper, green leaf, cherry, red currant, cooked meat), with a medium long finish. Very distinctive in style, tasting like a cross between a slightly herbal Cabernet and a medium weight Syrah."  4 Stars Restaurant Wine Magazine

  • 2009 Vintage

    Made from 100% Mencia, Gaba do Xil Mencia is grown in shallow soils, developed from granites, with steep slope terraces facing south, west, and northwest.  The stony coarse soils are low fertility, acidic, and low water retention capacity, forcing the vines to struggle and limiting yields.  

    • “You won't find a wine like this outside Galicia. It's not just the wild energy, the mash-up of stemmy greenness with dark fruit ripeness. You can find that in a great Chambolle. It's more the contrast of floral and meaty scents, as if violets were pressed into chorizo. And the tannins, as black as carbon, integrating with the fruit into a dark-lashed beauty.”  93 Points Wine & Spirits Magazine