Bodegas Terrasgauda, S. A.
The winery and its vineyards
Both lie in a privileged landscape in the O Rosal valley, close to the mouth of the river Miño in the A Guarda area.
The vineyards, which are between 50 and 150 metres above sea level, enjoy an exceptional microclimate characterised by mild temperatures, with an annual average of 15º C, very little frost and abundant rainfall.
This microclimate is ideal for ripening, with a high sugar content and a lower acidity level than in other parts of the Rías Baixas designation of origin area that lie further to the north, where the quality of the wine is more variable because of the climate.
On our 72 hectares of vineyard we use trellises, "Sylvoz"-type pruning and a 3.5 x 2.5 metre plantation frame.
Native grape varieties are planted: Albariño 70%, Loureiro 15%, Caiño Blanco 10% and Treixadura 5%.
These noble varieties, cultivated rationally yet respecting local tradition, allow us to produce quality wines year after year, thanks to a an extraordinarily beneficial combination of climate and soil.
The climate conditions of the year 2006 were characterised by a harst drought during the spring and the summer, with very low rainfall recorded at our weather station, along with intense cold which benefited the necessary rest period of the vine.
Early spring saw much-needed rain, although this was followed by a dry spell with high temperatures, as with most of the summer, which was aided the superb flowering and growth of all varieties.
The end of the ripening season, in other words, the latter half of September and beginning of October, was characterised by a many hours of unbroken sunshine, high temperatures and pratically no rain, wich provided optimal conditions for the right balance of acids and sugars to develop in the grape, along with staggered ripening of the different varieties. This enabled us to harvest the grapes plot by plot.
We are currently in the process of planting a further 20 hectares. This, together with the current vineyard and our partner's 68 hectares of private plots, now means that we have a total of 160 hectares of vineyards available for our exlusive use.
In keeping with our philosophy of respecting the environment, at our vineyards we have implemented an integrated protection plan using organic methods to rationalise the use of chemicals, with a view to obtaining higher quality raw materials and avoiding the presence of any undesirable residue on our grapes.
Our Winery's mission is to make unique wines, with their own identity, within certain strict quality limits.
Our basic premises for this are:
Ongoing care and control of our vineyards during each growing cycle.
Separate vinification of all varieties.
"Starter" fermentation, excluding any foreign yeasts.
Our wine-making process, which uses the very latest technology and equipment, can be summarised as follows:
As soon as they are optimally ripe, the different varieties are picked (separately and by hand) and transported to the winery in boxes holding not more than 20 kilos of grapes, thereby avoiding any premature breakage of the fruit.
Once at the winery, processing begins with crushing and stalk-removal, an operation where the bunches of grapes are gently crushed, and the stalks are removed to prevent the wine from tasting "grassy".
The fruit is then piped to the mashing vats, where the must remains in contact with the skins at for a certain time a temperature of 8-10 ºC, in order to bring out the delicate aromas of each variety and the components that define the structure of our wines.
Pneumatic membrane presses, working under pressure, then slowly extract the must, which, once it has been statically cleaned of impurities, is fermented at a controlled temperature (17 - 18 ºC) until it turns into wine.
We use no foreign yeasts, but rather use natural native "starters" from our own vineyards.
Each year we determine the coupage, the ideal mix of wines from the different varieties used for vinification, so that every year our wines continue to follow the profile of previous years.
After "coupage", the wines are cold stabilised, amicrobially filtered and finally bottled in an inert atmosphere when the time is right.
We use our remaining wash to make clear spirit, herb spirit and coffee liqueur.
We have been awarded the Quality Certificate under the ISO 9002 standard for our grape-growing and harvesting from our own vineyards and the making and marketing of our wines.