Fredi Torres has been chasing the taste of home for a long time. He’s a multi hyphenate: Swiss-Galician DJ-turned-winemaker-turned globetrotting Spanish wine ambassador. He jokes about trading the music industry for the wine industry —... Read More

Fredi Torres has been chasing the taste of home for a long time. He’s a multi hyphenate: Swiss-Galician DJ-turned-winemaker-turned globetrotting Spanish wine ambassador. He jokes about trading the music industry for the wine industry — where he used to make €1000 a night, he now makes €1000 a month, just so he can “stink of sulfur and compost.”

He spent summers with his grandparents in Galicia, and has distinct memories of his grandfather’s bright, high-acid red wines. A stint at Priorat’s famed Clos Mogador opened his eyes to new practices, like biodynamic farming principles and hyper terroir-specific wines. He found himself in pursuit of Spanish flavors and textures outside of Rioja or Vega Sicilia, Spain's traditional "fine wine" icons.

In 2013 he joined forces with Galician brothers Carlos and Juan Rodríguez to form Sílice Viticultores. They work a total of 8 hectares of vines, most of which perch on the sleep, rocky slopes of the river Sil. The farming is organic, the grapes are all indigenous to the region and fermentation is with native yeast. The project is a love letter to the bounty Galicia and Ribeira Sacra have to offer.

With a white blend made primarily with Treixadura (if you’ve ever tried a white wine from Luis Rodriguez, you’ve tasted and loved this mildly aromatic grape), and a Mencía-dominant red blend, Fredi and the brothers Rodriguez are showing us a different side of Ribeira Sacra. They’re the best kind of mashup: fresh-and-fruity meets refined-and-elegant.