It is said that the romans planted the first vines at Ribeira Sacra. They created the first terraces and covered them with vines, using the sweat and effort from slaves. This type of structure of stair distribution was the solution to overcome the steep slopes of the land, that can reach 45º of steepness. Although the romans would have an important role in Ribeira Sacra, monks continued with the winemaking tradition, becoming the most relevant period in the area. We have to go back to the 6th century. At that time, the region become populated by monks who promoted the raising of numerous hermitages. After the hermitages, the monasteries were built and the forceful implantation of various orders. These occupied the convents and monasteries that still exist today and contributed to a great extent to consolidate the cultivation of the vine in the Ribeira Sacra. They perfected procedures and gave the final shape to this spectacular terraced landscape that we see today. In the Middle Ages, wine was one of the main economic drivers of the Ribeira Sacra and remained so until the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Things dramatically changed then, poverty and emigration spreaded on the area and most of this landscape got swallowed under the forests. It is in 1979 when Fernando González, introduced by his father in law, discovers this heritage, getting obsessed in recoverying the history and legacy of his hometown until today. With the idea in mind of bringind back to life those terraces, we found out that the richness of grape varieties in the area was remarkable, focusing our project in growing and protecting our ancient varieties, only located in Galicia and north of Portugal, at their original vineyards. Today, not only we have planted 30ha of vineyard on these former abandoned slopes, but also have returned the shine and prestige on an appelation that still has an incalculable potential.

The Algueira estate is located at the mountains of Galicia, on the slopes of the Sil river, at one of the most overwhelming wine landscapes in the world. We develop our viticulture in the most vertical vineyards of Spain, reaching 60º steepness, the bottom of the vineyard being 200 mt. avobe sea level, and the top at 600 mt.The north slope facing south is Doade, a dramatic hill with an intense sun exposure and a predominat mediterranean microclimate. On the other side of the river, the north orientated slopes show atlantic microclimate features, both sides influenced by the continental conditions of the region. This diversity provided through the centuries a vast number of grape varieties adapted to every orientation, microclimate and soil.  

Although we have an extension of 30ha all around Ribeira Sacra, our most iconic plantation is located fundamentally on the slopes of Doade (5 ha), probably the most historical region of the appellation. Locals have been growing vines here for at least 15 centuries. When we arrived it was intensively neglected and deserted, with most of the vineyards covered by the forest. Galicia’s country properties are divided in smallholding, finding quite many owners in on hectare, so on the 1980’s we began a process of acquiring those, restoring the primitive terraces. Due to the steepness, every job we perform at the vineyard is hand made, no mechanical tools are used at any point, making this first stage extremely hard. Once we recovered it we decided to plant mainly one of the predominat varieties of the region, Mencía, where with this soil, orientation, microclimate and steepness shows a remarkable character and complexity. Next to this, we also planted Brancellao, very likely the most ancient grape of this region, with Sousón and Caíño, two fresh and atlantic varieties that brings up verticality and structure to the blend. Through the years we decided to be quite bold with the plant conduction and prunning reducing the growth on the surface and the production to the minimun possible, forcing the plant to grow underground, which added to the extreme conditions of water stress, rock concentration and the mediterranean influence, gives us extraordinary wines full of minerality, tension and complexity.

Variety is one of the keys of Ribeira Sacra when it comes to grapes, climates or orientations. Soil is no exception. For our winery, soil is the heart of the project, since one of the features of our viticulture is the poverty of the soil. We make the most of it by buildind narrow terraces. Under a thin layer of dirt, different rock formations shape the mountains with several types of composition. The predominant material is slate, especially deep and pure on the slopes of Doade. Here we grow our best Mencía and Garnacha Tintorera. The strength, tension and straightness of the wines we produce on this slopes is particularly remarkable. Brancellao, Caíño and Sousón are planted on a soil made of a blend of gneiss, quartz, granite and slate. This type of composition accentuates the freshness and acidity of this atlantic grapes that in the coupage are eventually going to bring up that more fresh and vibrant aspect of the wine. 

Dolio is a reflection of the heritage of Ribeira Sacra, one of the most unique and extraordinary wine landscapes in Spain. We wanted to express all the potential of our land into a wine that could materialize the dedicated work we built up through time. The main goal in the process was to be honest with our legacy and to be able to transmit our experience into a wine that could express the passion we invest in our project. In order to achieve it we took two pivotal decisions. The first one was to use only the best of our indigenous varieties. For it we blended Mencía, the protagonist of our appellation, from our oldest vines on the steepest slopes, with the ancient Brancellao that could express the most delicate and subtle nature of our grapes, in addition to Sousón and Caíño to bring up the vivacity and complexity of the atlantic side of our area, and Garnacha Tintorera to add depth to the coupage. The second decision was to use only our best vineyards, the ones with the oldest vines and with most extreme conditions to enhace that remarkable mineral character from our best plots. We just needed to name it and to summarize it’s identity under one concept. We found the perfect idea. The name Ribeira Sacra has it’s origins from the vast number of churches and monasteries along these hills from the romanic period. One of the most recognizables elements of this architecture is the use of canecillos (corbels) on the roofs, with representations of different cultural and social elements. Among those it’s easy to find the Dolio. This is an instrument from the middle ages made from an empty barrique of wine and a mouthpiece attached to it that when blowed allowed the player to reproduce a low sound often accompanied by other musicians with wind or string intruments, frequently performed at gatherings and celebrations. In the same period, and very likely thanks to the Camino de Santiago, it’s possible to find this corbels with dolios also in France, such as in L’abbaye Sainte-Marie d’Arthous at Hastingues. We got very excited to know that Galicia and France have been sharing this cultural conexion that unifies wine, music and celebration for 1000 years, making it a perfect name for this new project.