In Meaño, in the Salnés Valley, lies Bodegas Zárate. Zárate pioneered the production of quality Albariño in the 1950s when Ernesto Zárate launched the Albariño Festival in Cambados. That first year, 1954, Ernesto won first... Read More

In Meaño, in the Salnés Valley, lies Bodegas Zárate. Zárate pioneered the production of quality Albariño in the 1950s when Ernesto Zárate launched the Albariño Festival in Cambados. That first year, 1954, Ernesto won first prize. And then again in 1955 and 1956. In 1957 he withdrew from the competition so that other producers could match his triumph. To this day no other winery in Rias Baixas has managed to secure three victories.

Now run by the 7th generation, the winery continues to be the benchmark for complex, mineral laden wines that can age with grace. Since the 2000 vintage, Eulogio Pomares has been at the helm. Trained in Bordeaux and steeped in the family business, he has somehow managed to elevate what was already a stropheric reputation.

The estate consists of the family's 16th century stone mansion surrounded by vineyards. There are 10 hectares divided into 14 plots with an average age of 35 years. There are much older vines throughout, whose grapes are destined for the single plot bottlings that have garnered the winery universal praise. Albariño, Loureiro, Espadeiro and Caíño are planted on granite soils in Meaño and Ribadumia and have been gradually converted to organic and now biodynamic practices.

Sulphur and copper are the only treatments that the vines get. Since 1994 they have practiced no till viticulture which in turn has made leguminous plants and native flora bloom bringing natural balance back to the soil. The oldest ungrafted vines are used by Pomares to do a massal selection for new plantings. The same philosophy is applied at the winery. Little intervention and intuitive winemaking produces wines that are long-lived and express the terroir where they come from.