The Pazo San Mauro winery in Salvaterra do Miño (Pontevedra), part of the Marqués de Vargas winery group, is making a determined commitment to growth. In the coming years, thanks to the conversion of communal forests into vineyards in the parish of Lira, their plantations will increase by 16 hectares on rented land, which will be added to the current 20, according to the winery's field director, José Manuel Rodriguez. The first phase was planted 3 years ago, although the winery expansion project began in 2019. And this will force them to expand their winery, which is already becoming too small.
With the new facilities they will be able to exceed a production of half a million bottles per year. The planned investment amounts to up to 4 million euros. The president of the group, the 11th Marquis of Vargas and 9th Count of San Cristóbal, Pelayo de la Mata, sees great potential in the wines of the Rías Baixas, especially in international markets. In fact, in the last four years the export of Pazo San Mauro wines has increased by 95%.
This Pontevedra winery (from the Condado do Tea subzone of the Rías Baixas DO) is located on a beautiful 30-hectare estate in which there is no shortage of a 16th century hermitage still open to worship, a celeiro (Galician granary) and even a beautiful private river beach bathed by a Miño that, on the other shore, already waters Portugal. From the winery it is remembered that “in this magical land of Homes Peixe and Feiticeiras, crossed by the Miño River, are the best Albariños.”
County of Tea is the southernmost and continental subzone of the Rías Baixas territory. It extends south of the province of Pontevedra, off the northern slope of the Río Miño, bordering Portugal and the province of Ourense. It comprises the municipalities of Salvaterra do Miño, As Neves, Arbo, Crecente, Salceda de Caselas, Ponteareas, A Cañiza, Tui and Mos. In the subzone there are 41 wineries and 903 wine growers. Sparkling wines are also made in the County, and red wines are traditional in the parish of Rubiós (As Neves). Here, Álvaro Cunqueiro wrote: “A little further down, we come across Salvaterra and its county (...) I assure you that the best Galician red wine I have ever had in my life was one from Rubiós: God, how big it was, how full , how friendly, how warm, what a counselor!”
Pazo de San Mauro is a 100% Albariño from vineyards planted on semi-vines and trellises, in a terraced amphitheater, worked following the dictates of organic farming, with sexual confusion to minimize the plague of the cluster moth and fertilizing with manure. bovine. The average age of its vineyards is about 35 years. Some of the vines maintain traditional granite stakes. The estate, with a clear Atlantic influence, has supportive irrigation and soils with a sandy loam texture and alluvial deposits in the lower area of the vineyard, the closest to the Miño. In the upper area, the abundance of gravel and boulders stands out, especially in the La Fraga estate, along with clay, and on a granite rock base.
The winter of 2021-22 was very warm, as were the spring and summer, which were also warmer than the previous vintage. The high temperatures were accompanied by little rainfall, 37% less than the previous year in winter and 25% less in spring. The average rainfall on their farm reached 717.2 mm, half of the rainfall recorded in the 2021 vintage. Due to a very dry summer, the soil had almost no water reserves, so the vines suffered a significant water stress. This made the berries more concentrated, and with a lower natural acidity. These climatic conditions led to an earlier harvest date of approximately one week compared to the previous year, but good health of the grapes was achieved.
The harvest, which was manual in 12 kilo boxes and with selection of the grapes in the vineyard itself, took place from August 30 to September 15. After harvesting, the berries were refrigerated in a cold room before vinification. This Albariño is unique for a production in which one third of the wine is the fruit of grapes with pre-fermentation maceration at low temperature for about 5 hours to extract a greater aromatic load, another third is made from whole clusters that favor drainage during pressing and the rest It is the result of direct pressing after destemming. All of this offers a special complexity in terms of production, which also translates into the wine. Alcoholic fermentation takes place between 10 and 15 days in 20,000 liter stainless steel tanks, with controlled temperature.
Pazo de San Mauro 2022 is straw yellow, crisp and bright. With medium aromatic intensity (somewhat shy initially). It shows notes of nectarine, tropical pineapple and white melliferous (almond) flower, with a hint of fennel. In the mouth it exhibits roundness and somewhat bitter citrus fruit (grapefruit). Its acidity is very good (7.2 gr./l.), which gives it freshness in a warm vintage, and its marked saline finish, which makes you salivate.
It is evident that this white wine has very satisfactorily accumulated more than a year of aging in the bottle, as highlighted by the technical director of the winery, the Galician oenologist Susana Pérez. It is precise and very varietal. All this with only 12.5º of alcohol. A total of 374,000 bottles have been produced from this vintage, which were bottled in November 2022. The winery defines it as “the legend of Miño”, and as “the expression of a vineyard of unparalleled beauty rooted in the history of a mansion that dates back its origin to the 16th century.”
It is an ideal Albariño to harmonize with a xoubas empanada (the Galician sardine), with the exquisite and very tasty black scallops from the Ría, with steamed mussels without lemon, with barnacles and even with a soft Galician tetilla with quince. The general director of Bodegas y Viñedos del Marqués de Vargas, Jordi Viñals, likes to pair it with some steamed Galician cockles.
The roots of Pazo de San Mauro date back to the 16th century. Originally owned by the noble Spanish-Portuguese family of the Pereira de Castro, descendants of King Sancho I of Portugal. The manor was built in 1591, and the cultivation of vineyards was always linked to its history. This Pontevedra winery is part of the Bodegas y Viñedos del Marqués de Vargas group, a family project chaired by Pelayo de la Mata. It was in 2003 when they acquired this historic vineyard and the manor, a noble building that was restored, returning it to its original splendor. The group, which has the Catalan businessman Manel Giró as vice president, is also based in the Rioja (Bodegas Marqués de Vargas) and Ribera del Duero (Conde de San Cristóbal) appellations of origin.
