Vina de Martin

Luis Anxo Rodriguez Vazquez is one of the spiritual fathers of Ribeiro. He started in 1988, restructuring the old “bad” vineyards (Palomino and Garnacha Tintorera) to the old varietals traditional in Ribeiro. He is a humble and simple man, passionate about his vineyards and his village, A Arnoia. His winemaking is more intuitive than scientific: he knows his vineyards very well, and when it comes to making the wines he tries different things. He studied philosophy and oenology (in the Madrid oenology school), and you can see the philosopher and the winemaker (or I’d say the grape grower, the vigneron) when you talk to him. He is calm; he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. He takes his time. He created the company in 1988, as a colleiteiro in the Os Pasas place in Paixon in the village of Arnoia. In 2000 he launched the Escolma range, which he ages and keeps in the winery for longer as he feels they should not be drunk too young. From 2011, he will have a new wine from Ribadavia. I had the chance to visit some of his vineyards and uncork some old bottles, and the wines age extremely well. The young unoaked white from 1999 was still going strong, with some mineral Riesling-like aromas and enough acidity to keep it going a few more years. They do not only keep, but they improve with time, a sign of great wines. What struck me was the fact that for such a visionary, 80% of his wines are sold within Galicia, and only a small fraction is exported. He produces a grand total of 30,000 bottles annually. LUIS GUTIERREZ, erobertparker.com