2010 Guimaro Ribeira Sacra Finca Meixeman

Guimaro was founded in 1991 in Galicia, in the Ribeira Sacra appellation. It was started by Pedro Rodriguez, whose family has been farming, growing grapes and making wine for their own enjoyment and for local restaurants for several generations. But in 1991 Pedro built a winery on his family’s property, naming their commercial enterprise Guimaro, which means “rebel” in the local dialect. In 2000 Pedro met the influential Spanish winemaker Raul Perez who helped steer Guimaro toward single-vineyard, reduced-yield winemaking practices. Today Guimaro produces wines from heirloom grapes such as Mencia, which results in subtle, delicate and aromatic wines. The Guimaro Finca Meixeman comes from a single 3.5-acre plot of 70-year-old Mencia vines. About 700 cases are produced annually.

Galicia is in the far northwestern corner of Spain, just above Portugal on the Atlantic coast. It includes four provinces and five appellations. The appellations are Monterrei, Rías Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Ribeiro and Valdeorras. In recent years the popularity of Albariño from Rías Baixas has brought new renown to the area, though it has been a wine producing region since at least the 14th century, when it was an exporter of grape vine cuttings. The coastal climate is wet, with an average of about 50 inches of rainfall annually, and it receives many hours of sun. Besides the Albariño grape, Galicia grows the white wine grapes Loureira, Caiño Blanca, Torrontés, Treixadura and Godello, another recently popular grape and wine. Red wines of the region are light and generally made of Mencia. Rías Baixes is the star of the region, with Albariño accounting for 90% of its production.