Rías Baixas

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The climate is Atlantic in type, shaped by the proximity of the sea.
• Viticulture is practised on land below 300 metres in altitude, a topographic feature that, together with other factors, determines the pattern of grape ripening.
• The soils display low pH, poverty of minerals and nutrients, and shallow depth — edaphic characteristics that are distinctive of the Rías Baixas appellation.
• The Rías Baixas appellation is divided into five sub-zones: Val do Salnés, Condado do Tea, O Rosal, Soutomaior, and Ribeira do Ulla. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The overhead-trained trellis system (emparrado) represents an adaptation to the high-humidity conditions of the area.
• The Rías Baixas appellation was established in 1980 as a specific denomination and was officially recognised as a denominación de origen in 1988. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Albariño is the best-suited and overwhelmingly dominant wine-grape variety in Rías Baixas, to the point that the appellation as a whole is frequently referred to by its name.

• The most successful single-variety wines are those made from Albariño, produced as low-alcohol white wines with no ageing. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The Atlantic climate, altitude below 300 m, low-pH and nutrient-poor soils, and the emparrado training system shape a ripening pattern that favours sugar accumulation, yielding wines with a distinctive character in their acidity and in their aromatic and flavour profile.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the specification (pliego de condiciones).

Subzonas

• Condado do Tea DO (PDO)
• O Rosal DO (PDO)
• Ribeira do Ulla DO (PDO)
• Soutomaior DO (PDO)
• Val do Salnés DO (PDO)

All appellations in Spain

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• National pliego de condiciones (PDF)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-ES-A1119
• Official trade body site — D.O. Rías Baixas