BODEGAS TERRAS GAUDA

Bodegas Terrasgauda, S. A.

News

December 2006

News Source: Semana
Section: News
Date: 22/12/06

Albariño from O Rosal

Bodegas Terras Gauda presents a box with three bottles of its albariño-based wine for €35.

News Source: Fuera de serie
Section: Taste
Date: 22/12/06

O Rosal

Designer Albariño

For this Christmas, O Rosal has come up with an original gift box, which includes three bottles of albariño-based wine from the Terras Gauda winery. The wine´s striking personality is the result of combining albariño must with loureiro and caíño blanco. A classic to accompany the traditional Christmas shellfish and white fish dishes.

Price, 35 euros.

News Source: Diario del Alto Aragón
Section: Culture
Date: 22/12/06

International Poster Design Competition

Takahiro Shima wins the Francisco Mantecón poster prize

Isidro Ferrer takes over from Javier Mariscal to head the jury

The lecturer at the Faculty of Art and Design at Osaka University and the head of one of Japan´s best-known design studios, Takahiro Shima, is the winner of the fifth edition of the Francisco Mantecón International Poster Competition organised by Bodegas Terras Gauda. Takahiro Shima travelled from Osaka to Vigo to attend his prize-giving ceremony.

Takahiro Shima is also the director of the DAS Designers Association, and his long professional career has included awards at the Exhibition of the Art Directors Club of New York, NY Graphic Poster, Japan Sign Design Association, Kyoto Advertising Association Awards and Asahi Trade Advertising Awards.

HIGH QUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN GRAPHICS

News Source: deperu.info [ + ]
Section: News
Date: 22/12/06

TAKAHIRO SHIMA, AN ART AND DESIGN LECTURER FROM OSAKA UNIVERSITY, WINS THE 5th FRANCISCO MANTECÓN COMPETITION

The jury of the fifth Francisco Mantecón International Poster Competition, organised by Bodegas TERRAS GAUDA, awarded the first prize to Takahiro Shima, selected from among 1,400 entries from 62 countries all over the world.

Takahiro Shima, an art and design lecturer at Osaka University and the head of a well-known Japanese design studio, has won the fifth Francisco Mantecón International Poster Competition, organised by Bodegas TERRAS GAUDA. Takahiro Shima travelled from Osaka to Spain for the prize-giving ceremony.

Takahiro Shima is also director of the DAS Designers Association, and his long professional career has included awards at the "Exhibition of the Art Directors Club of New York", "NY Graphic Poster", "Japan Sign Design Association", "Kyoto Advertising Association Awards" and "Asahi Trade Advertising Awards".

The leading designer and illustrator Isidro Ferrer took over as head of the jury, a role played in previous years by Javier Mariscal, Alberto Corazón and Óscar Mariné.

The jury stressed the high quality and graphical diversity of the 1,400 entries received this year from 62 countries all over the world. The jury met on 27 October to pre-select 35 finalists from Japan, Singapore, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, France, Serbia, Holland and various parts of Spain.

The first prize of 6,000 euros is accompanied by the use of the winning poster as the image of Bodegas TERRAS GAUDA for the coming year. Two runners-up prizes and a special mention were also awarded by the jury.

Bodegas TERRAS GAUDA, the only company in the wine sector to organise an event of this kind, set up the competition with a view to recovering the former glory of the advertising poster and acting as a creative platform for graphic designers.

News Source: La Jornada (Nicaragua)
Section: Events
Date: 20/12/06

Art and design lecturer wins the fifth Francisco Mantecón competition

The leading designer and illustrator Isidro Ferrer took over as head of the jury, a role played in previous years by Javier Mariscal, Alberto Corazón and Óscar Mariné.

News Source: Es Diari (Diario de Menorca)
Section: News
Date: 19/12/06

Takahiro Shima, art and design lecturer wins the fifth Francisco Mantecón competition

The leading designer and illustrator Isidro Ferrer took over as head of the jury, a role played in previous years by Javier Mariscal, Alberto Corazón and Óscar Mariné.

News Source: ABC [ + ]
Section: Galicia
Date: 16/12/06

Takahiro Shima gaña a quinta edición do concurso de cartelismo «Francisco Mantecón»

O xurado elixiu, entre 1,400 obras de 62 países, o traballo deste xaponés profesor de Arte e Deseño da Universidade de Osaka para a concesión do primeiro premio.

O profesor da Facultade de Arte e Deseño da Universidade de Osaka e titular dun estudo de deseño de recoñecido prestixio en Xapón, Takahiro Shima, é o gañador do 5º Concurso Internacional de Deseño de Cartelismo Publicitario «Francisco Mantecón», convocado por Bodegas Terras Gauda. Takahiro Shima desprazouse dende Osaka ata Vigo para recoller o seu galardón, no acto de entrega dos premios, na Fundación Caixa Galicia.

Takahiro Shima é tamén director da DAS Designer Association e na súa longa traxectoria acadou premios en distintas edicións da «Exhibition of the Art Directors Club of New York», «NY Graphic Poster», no «Japan Sign Design Association», no «Kyoto Advertising Association Award» e no «Asahi Trade Advertising Adward».

O xurado do concurso Francisco Mantecón, do que forma parte o Premio Nacional de Deseño 2002 e Premio Nacional da Ilustración 2006 Isidro Ferrer, destacou a alta calidade e a diversidade gráfica das obras que participaron no concurso, 600 máis que na edición anterior.

Esta ano recibíronse un total de 1.400 carteis procedentes de 62 países de todo o mundo. O xurado reuniuse o 27 de outubro e seleccionou 35 obras finalistas enviadas dende Xapón, Singapur, Colombia, Costa Rica, República Checa, Lituania, Italia, Francia, Serbia, Holanda e dende diferentes lugares de España (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Segovia, Guadalajara, Alicante, Asturias e Galicia).

Accésits e mención

Ademais do primeiro premio, cunha contía económica que ascende a 6.000 euros, o xurado tamén concedeu o primeiro accésit a Carlos Romero e Santiago Miniño; o segundo accésit correspondeu a un cartel de Lituania, firmado por Aiste Bileviciute; e a mención especial non incluida nas bases foi para Vladimir Petrovic.

A información sobre a 5ª edición do concurso foi publicada na prensa xeral, especializada e páxinas web de 35 países dos cinco continentes: Japón, China, Taiwán, Singapur, Australia, India, Sudáfrica, Rusia, Georgia, Estados Unidos, México, Argentina, Costa Rica, República Dominicana e numerosos países de Europa.

Takahiro Shima wins the fifth edition of the Francisco Mantecón poster competition

The jury awarded the first prize to a poster by an Osaka art and design lecturer, selected from among 1,400 entries from 62 countries

The jury of the Francisco Mantecón competition, including the winner of the National Design Award 2002 and National Illustration Award 2006, Isidro Ferrer, stressed the high quality and graphical diversity of the entries – 600 more than last year.

This year a total of 1,400 posters were received from 62 countries all over the world. The jury met on 27 October and pre-selected 35 finalists from Japan, Singapore, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Italy, France, Serbia, Holland and various parts of Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Segovia, Guadalajara, Alicante, Asturias and Galicia).

Runners-up prizes and special mentions

Besides the first prize of 6,000 euros, the jury also awarded two runners-up prizes to Carlos Romero and Santiago Miniño, and to an entry from Lithuania by Aiste Bileviciute, with a special mention – not originally planned – for the poster by Vladimir Petrovic.

Information on this fifth edition of the competition was published in the mainstream media, specialist press and on websites in 35 countries on all five continents, including Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, India, South Africa, Russia, Georgia, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and many countries in Europe.

News Source: El Correo Gallego
Section: Culture
Date: 16/12/06

Takahiro Shima wins the fifth edition of the Francisco Mantecón competition

CREATIVITY – The Japanese designer was chosen from among 1,400 entries as the winner of the poster-design competition organised by Terras Gauda at a prize-giving ceremony held in Vigo yesterday.

Takahiro Shima is also director of the DAS Designers Association and has won many other international awards during his long professional career.

The jury of the Francisco Mantecón competition, which included the winner of the National Design Award 2002 and National Illustration Award 2006, Isidro Ferrer, stressed the high quality and graphical diversity of this year´s entries – 600 more than last year.

Resides the first prize of 6,000 euros, the jury also awarded two runners-up prizes to Carlos Romero and Santiago Miniño, and to a poster from by Aiste Bileviciute from Lithuania. An unscheduled special mention also went to Vladimir Petrovic.

News Source: Faro de Vigo
Section: Society & Culture
Date: 16/12/06

The designer Takahiro Shima wins the fifth Francisco Mantecón Award

Almost 1,400 entries from all over the world were received for the poster competition run by Bodegas Terras Gauda.

The Japanese designer collected his award yesterday in Vigo, at a ceremony presented by Fernando Ónega.

The Japanese designer Takahiro Shima, an art and design lecturer at Osaka University, collected the first prize in the fifth Francisco Mantecón International Poster Competition at an event held yesterday at the Caixa Galicia Foundation in Vigo. His poster was chosen from nearly 1,400 entries by artists from 62 countries all over the world, including Singapore, Colombia, Costa Rica, Italy, Serbia and various parts of Spain.

The event, at which the journalist Fernando Onega acted as master of ceremonies, was also attended by the other finalists and Isidro Ferrer, the winner of the National Design Award 2002 and National Illustration Award 2006, representing the jury.

Shima, an art and design lecturer at Osaka University and the head of a on of Japan´s leading design studios, was very happy with the award and the opportunity to visit Galicia. His poster, which features neither a bottle nor a glass, seeks, in the words of its creator, "to convey a sensation of joy and well-being". When working on the poster, although he had never tasted the wine or been to Galicia, he was inspired by the idea he had of the region, "beyond all the clichés, as a welcoming, stylish, brightly coloured place".

The winner said graphic design in Japan is greatly influenced by what is happening in America. "In terms of technology it´s very advanced, but culturally there´s no doubt that European design is way ahead of us", he admitted.

Besides the first prize of 6,000 euros, the jury also awarded two runners-up prizes to Carlos Romero and Santiago Miniño, and to a poster by Aiste Bileviciute from Lithuania. An unscheduled special mention also went to Vladimir Petrovic.

News Source: La Voz de Galicia
Section: Outlook
Date: 16/12/06

The rising sun comes up in Vigo

The Japanese lecturer Takahiro Shima visited the city yesterday to collect his award for designing a poster for Bodegas Terras Gauda.

Japan drinks wines from Galicia

The expansion of wines from Galicia is now crossing frontiers and time zones. A clear example of this was seen yesterday at the prize-giving ceremony for the Francisco Mantecón International Poster Competition, organised by Terras Gauda, which was won by the Japanese lecturer Takahiro Shima – an artist who boned up on Vigo on the Internet, added a bit of imagination and came up with the winning poster. "I liked the wine very much because of its smooth, fruity taste. I´ll be taking a few bottles home to celebrate with my friends," Takahiro Shima said. This year´s edition of the competition drew 1,400 entries from 62 countries from all over the world, which were short-listed down to nearly 30 finalists. The Japanese winner liked some of the other entries so much that he took photographs of them with his mobile phone to keep as a souvenir.

News Source: El País Semanal
Section: Cuisine
Date: 10/12/06

Group wines

To illustrate this box Terras Gauda has used a award-winning poster by the graphic designer Andrés Meixide.

Terras Gauda: 35 euros

News Source: El Semanal
Section: Food / Bazaar
Date: 3/12/06

Albariño, by Bodegas Terras Gauda

October 2006

News Source: Levante
Section: El Mercantil Valenciano (Business in Valencia)
Date: 15/10/06

The albariño grape and its clones
The Galician winery Terras Gauda makes a deep commitment to research

To enhance the uniqueness and quality of its wines, while improving the regularity of its harvests, the Terras Gauda winery has been running a research project over the last three years to select clones of albariño grape strains. The firm´s vineyards and facilities are located in the O Rosal area, in Pontevedra province, en el right bank of the mouth of the river, within the Rías Baixas designation of origin.

The winery´s research team, working in partnership with the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), detected a total of 115 clones of the albariño variety, of which 24 were selected and tested by using them making wine in small 25-litre temperature-controlled vats. According to the firm´s technical director, Emilio Rodríguez, "a combination of between four and six clones will be used, depending on the circumstances in each vineyard".

In the future, the winery will carry out albariño grafting according to the characteristics of each plot, the type of soil and the orientation of the vineyards, choosing the albariño clone that is best adapted to each situation.

A growing company

While continuing to work on the clone-selection IDI project, the winery´s scientists and technicians are currently immersed in a study to select and isolate ecotypical yeasts, to study the fermentation behaviour and organoleptic qualities of each yeast strain selected.

Last year Bodegas Terras Gauda, chaired by José María Fonseca, has achieved 26% growth in its sales abroad, making significant inroads in such countries as Argentina, the USA and Norway, as well as consolidating its presence in others such as the UK, Switzerland, Mexico and Germany. The winery´s short-term plans include extending its marketing network in South-East Asia, having recently broken into new markets in Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. A total of 1.4 million bottles are expected to be sold from the 2006 production.

In recent years, as part of its drive to position itself in Spanish market, the firm has invested in other designations of origin, setting up Bodegas Pittacum in the Bierzo designation of origin, and with plans to acquire a winery in Rioja in the near future.

(Full-page article illustrated with several photographs)

News Source: El Adelanto de Salamanca
Section: El Reportaje / Viajes (Feature / Travel)
Date: 14/10/06

The nectar of the Rías Baixas
Its privileged location, very close to the mouth of the river Miño, enjoying the microclimate of the Rías Baixas, creates an excellent environment for the albariño grape used by the Terras Gauda winery

Just a stone´s throw from where the river Miño joins the waters of the Atlantic, the fruit of the vine finds unbeatable ripening conditions, which combined with the traditional know-how of the best winemakers and technological innovation to produce one of the best albariño-based wines in Galicia, true nectar for even the most demanding of palates.

Hidden away in the woods of O Rosal valley, just a few kilometres from La Guardia, nestle the 160 hectares of vineyards cultivated by the winery Terras Gauda, where winemaking has become an art form. A tour of the carefully tended vineyards, aligned on props that keep the grapes clear of the moisture of the soil and enjoy the benefits of a special microclimate with an average temperature of 15 ºC, reveals the loving care with which Terras Gauda devotes to its raw material, with stringent quality controls.

It´s harvest time and dozens of people are picking the albariño, loureiro and caíño grapes. The latter is a variety native to the area that was about to disappear before the firm recovered it to grow it in the very hard-to-reach stony places where it is most at home.

The strict controls of the Rías Baixas designation of origin, to which these wines belong, can be seen as soon as the grapes reach the winery itself, where a show, careful process begins to turn the must into a wine of the highest quality. Abadía de San Campio (with 100% albariño grapes), Terras Gauda (a blend of 70% albariño with 20% loureiro and 10% caíño) and the oak-matured Terras Gauda are the three splendid products marketed by this Galician winery.

Process

Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes are first stripped of any stalks and leaves and then crushed into a paste from which the must is extracted. [/…]

(Double-page spread with several photographs)

News Source: Tribuna de Salamanca
Section: Enfoque (Focus)
Date: 8/10/06

Terras Gauda: where simplicity and quality are the key
A visit to Terras Gauda shows just how well the wine is treated and how it evolves to become the best. This process is repeated year after year. And they treat people just as well or better. In short, a real privilege

Somewhere in Spain, a place I know well, they make a wine of excellent quality called Terras Gauda. The name makes it an easy task to identify the location: Galicia, As Eiras – O Rosal, Pontevedra.

The key objective of Bodegas Terras Gauda is to consolidate its presence in international markets and open new areas of research to enhance the uniqueness and quality of its wines.

The technical progress made includes a clone-selection project for albariño grapes, which has now been completed, and isolating and selecting ecotypical yeasts, with a view to obtaining "a la carte yeasts" in the future.

Market abroad

The major research progress made coincides with the firm´s recent entry into three markets in South-East Asia, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Terras Gauda also plans to extend its sales to China, while maintaining its presence in such countries as the UK, Switzerland, Mexico, Belgium and Brazil. The winery intends to market nearly one and a half million bottles of wine produced from the 2006 harvest.

In Spain, Bodegas Terras Gauda is present in 90% of the country´s provinces and has achieved 35% growth over the last three years. The firm´s wines are also available in Salamanca, and are expected to grow from now on. The winery markets the following wines: Terras Gauda, Abadía de San Campio and Terras Gauda Etiqueta Negra.

Types of wines

Terras Gauda is the winery´s flagship wine, made from the three grape varieties described, with a greenish-yellow colour with green highlights, and an interesting aromatic journey. In the mouth it combines character and originality with a marked fruity structure.

(Double-page spread illustrated with various images)

News Source: Galicia Hoxe
Section: Galicia
Date: 8/10/06

"Gústame o viño con maiúsculas, calquera que teña singularidade"
José María Fonseca Moretón, presidente das Bodegas Terras Gauda e Pittacum

Os viños de Terras Gauda chegan incluso ata Xapón. ¿Foi un duro traballo lograr esta expansión?
Pois si, foi duro pero non é falar por falar. Agora o momento non é o máis favorable para o mundo do viño, pero neste tempo conseguimos os dous factores que sempre subliño: a calidade do viño e a súa singularidade. Con eses vimbios creo que se pode chegar a todas partes, e esa é a guerra na que estamos. Chegar á situación de prestixio que hoxe temos non foi un camiño fácil.

¿Como chegou ó mundo do viño un inspector de Traballo como é vostede?
Cando rematei a carreira fixen oposicións para técnico do Ministerio de Traballo e cando vin destinado á provincia de Pontevedra, fun o resposable da parte de formación ocupacional. Dentro destes cursos impartíronse moitísimos sobres viticultura e enoloxía, da man dunha persona que tivo moito que ver na revolución das Rías Baixas, que se chamaba Xesús Requena. Isto, cinguido ó coñecemento grazas ó meu pai, que era de Tui e que me fixo comprender que na zona do Rosal estaban os mellores viños, tiven a idea de que había que facer algo en Galicia co tema do viño. Funme metendo cada vez máis neste mundo, conectei cunha serie de viticultores inquedos que estaban na mesma órbita que a miña e comezamos con esta andaina, ata hoxe.

Supoño que é complicado, pero ¿que destacaría como o seu maior logro nestes anos?
No referente ó mundo do viño creo que fixemos moitas cousas que non ían totalmente coa corrente que imperaba naquel momento, pero fomos conseguindo o que quixemos naquel momento, apostar pola singularidade dunha terra, traballar sen parar na busca de potenciar o mellor que tiña de seu ese viño… creo que foi o maior logro que tivemos, sen equivocarnos…

(Más información)

"I like wine with capital letters – any wine that´s unique"

José María Fonseca Moretón, chairman of Bodegas Terras Gauda and Pittacum

Terras Gauda´s wines now reach as far a field as Japan. Has this growth been hard to achieve?
Well, yes, it was quite hard, but there´s not much point in going into details. This isn´t the best of times for the wine business, although we´ve manager to achieve two things that I always point to: the quality of the wine and its uniqueness. With those two factors I think a wine can break into any market, and that's the battle we're fighting right now. But achieving the prestige that we currently enjoy hasn´t been easy by any means, no.

How did an employment inspector such as yourself end up in the wine business?
When I left university I passed the competitive exams for Ministry of Employment technicians and was posted to the province of Pontevedra. I was put in charge of the occupational-training department. Many of the courses that were organised were about grape-growing and winemaking, run by someone who played an important role in the Rías Baixas wine revolution, a man called Xesús Requena. This, together with knowledge that I´d picked up from my father, who was from Tui and taught me that the O Rosal area was where the best wines were to be found, set me thinking that I could do something related to wine in Galicia. I got more and more involved in the wine world, contacting a group of winemakers who had similar ideas to mine, and so we decided to set out on this adventure. And here we are still..

I suppose it must be difficult for you to say, but what would you point to as your greatest achievement over all these years?
As far as the wine business is concerned, I think we´ve done a lot of things that went against the grain at the time, although we managed to achieve what we were after: making a commitment to the unique characteristics of a certain area, and working non-stop for the wine we make to reach all its potential. I think that was our biggest achievement – managing not to get it wrong. […]

News Source: Diario de León
Section: Revista (Review)
Date: 1/10/06

Passion for wine in the land of joy
Terras Gauda extends its presence in major international markets while researching grape varieties native to O Rosal in search of uniqueness and quality for its white wines

Thousands of years after settlers from the north discovered the excellent qualities of the local land and the heirs of this blessed land of joy still strive to unlock the secrets that are hidden between the soil and the sky, where the river Miño, enigmatic and unsettling, overflows with relaxing generosity. O Rosal, between Tomiño and A Guarda, just before the river hands the water that springs from the Leon highlands into the arms of the Atlantic – "the Miño is famous but the Sil has the water", as the saying goes – is a fertile valley of river terraces, closed off by rolling hills where Spain and Portugal meet, with mild temperatures and abundant rainfall.

In this location kiwi fruit is grown, and an excellent vineyard is planted with several native grape varieties, although the star is undoubtedly the albariño. This is also one of the three districts, together with the Salnés Valley and Tea County, that make up the Rías Baixas designation of origin, which was set up during the revolution that wine sector underwent in 1980. This evolution also produced Viñedos do Rosal SA and Adegas das Eiras SA, founded several years after Terras Gauda, the winery that in 1990 was set up in As Eiras, as an initiative – as with many others related to the albariño grape – of the man who then and now headed the winery, José María Fonseca. The following year, in 1991, the first 37,000 bottles of Abadía de San Campio were sold, a single-grape wine whose label refers to the area´s most significant heritage site.

Even back in those days the winery´s principles were clear: "The albariño, as one of the noblest varieties, could acquire new dimensions in combination with other native strains, to add subtle new shades and give O Rosal´s wines an even greater quality than they already have". The strict application of this dogma led to the wine that takes the name of the winery, and its appearance, aroma and taste, to consolidate this philosophy and an unequivocal commitment to other unique native varieties: treixadura, loureira – successfully recovered – and caíño blanco, in particular.

(Double-page spread illustrated with several photographs)

September 2006

News Source: ABC
Section: Galicia
Date: 26/09/06

Terras Gauda opt for research to enhance product quality
The firm will sell 1.4 bottles of wine this year

The Galician firm Terras Gauda is not only becoming consolidated as one of the wineries with the fastest-growing international presence, but the company is also exploring new areas of research with a view to increasing the unique nature and quality of its products. The firm also hopes to achieve more reliable harvests that are no longer totally at the mercy of the weather.

The new research in question has been undertaken in addition to the work already done on cloning the albariño grape variety, with the existence of three clones having been confirmed so far as being the most resistant to mildew – the disease that affects grapes in the O Rosal area most seriously.

International market

The major progress made in research coincides with Terras Gauda´s recent entry in three markets in South-East Asia – Taiwan, Singapore and Japan – with plans to extend the firm´s sales network to China in the near future. Thanks to the brand´s expansion, the Galician winery increased its export sales by 26 per cent, with particular progress having been made in Argentina, the United States (where sales grew by 300 per cent) and Norway (250 per cent up).

In recent months Terras Gauda has continued to consolidate itself in the UK, Swiss, Mexican, Belgian, German, Brazilian and Canadian markets, with a total of 1.4 million bottles of wine made from the 2006 harvest to be marketed.

In Spain, Bodegas Terras Gauda is present in 90 per cent of the country´s provinces, with 35% growth having been achieved over the last three years. In this market, the O Rosal winery plans to consolidate its positioning be strengthening its presence in other designations of origin. New projects planned for the future include new areas of research involving a mashing study. Since the winery was founded, the three grape varieties used by Terras Gauda (albariño, loureiro and caíño blanco) were mashed for a certain time at temperatures considered to be ideal.

News Source: Atlántico Diario
Section: Economía (Finance)
Date: 26/09/06

Terras Gauda increases its export sales by 26% and breaks into the South-East Asian market
The O Rosal winery expects to end the year with a turnover of 7.5 M euros and 1.4 M bottles

Two weeks ago this year´s harvest began at the 160 hectares of vineyards that Gauda has in the O Rosal area. Although it has rained, the winery´s technicians are confident of the quality of this year´s wine and expect to increase production by nearly 10%, pressing 1.5 million kilos of grapes to produce 1.4 million bottles of wine. The firm expects to close the year with a turnover of 7.5 M euros, compared with 7.2 M last year.

20% of this figure will be sold abroad, particularly in the UK and Norway. Total exports grew by 26% last year and the winery has recently broken into three new markets in South-East Asia (Taiwan, Singapore and Japan), with plans to extend its network to China. "We want to position ourselves in the Asian catering and restaurant market", Enrique Costas, Managing Director of Bodegas Terras Gauda, said yesterday. For the time being, the firm´s presence in these countries is discreet. "The Japanese market has been flooded with wines from all over the world", Mr Costas regrets, "but our goal is to consolidate our presence there".

This year Terras Gauda completed its study of clone selection of albariño grapes Of the 115 clones observed over the last three years, four have been selected as being the most aromatic or resistant to mildew. These clones have now begun to be grafted in the vineyards and the first results are expected in the next two or three years. […]

(Article illustrated with two images)

News Source: Diario de Pontevedra
Section: Sociedad (Society)
Date: 26/09/06

Bodegas Terras Gauda researches new avenues

Bodegas Terras Gauda continues with its firm commitment towards research to enhance the unique characteristics and quality of its wines and improve the reliability of harvests, making them less dependent on the weather. The O Rosal winery is beginning a new study in addition to its clone-selection research for albariño grapes, which has recently concluded, and isolating and selecting ecotypical yeasts with a view to obtaining "a la carte yeast" before long.

This major research effort coincides with the firm´s recent entry into three markets in South-East Asia (Taiwan, Singapore and Japan). Bodegas Terras Gauda also plans to extend its marketing network to China in the near future.

Last year the winery´s export sales grew by 26%, particularly in Argentina, the United States and Norway.

News Source: Expansión
Section: Galicia
Date: 26/09/06

Terras Gauda turns to R&D to maintain its uniqueness

Bodegas Terras Gauda has recently concluded a three-year initial phase of a clone-selection project for albariño grapes. In partnership with researchers from the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC), the winery, base don O Rosal (Pontevedra) has identified the three most resistant clones to mildew (the most common disease in the area), with another standing out for its organoleptic properties. This selection process allows the winery to use a combination of clones in future albariño grafts with a view to obtaining a more stable, resistant and homogeneous production.

The Terras Gauda chairman, José María Fonseca, stressed the need to continue making progress with "our uniqueness, because quality alone is no longer enough". The firm´s next research project therefore revolves around the selection of ecotypical yeast varieties to identify the one that is best adapted to the wines produced by the winery.

Terras Gauda, which ended 2005 with a turnover of 7.2 million euros (a 9% increase), is marketing its first bottles in the South-East Asian market, where it hopes to position itself. The winery has turned to the export market, assigning 20% of its production to sales abroad, in response to the drop in wine consumption in Spain – 7% in the first half of the year.

News Source: Faro de Vigo
Section: Baixo Miño
Date: 26/09/06

Birth of a unique wine
The research is the fruit of an R&D study for wine that is a pioneering project in Galicia

Harvest time and time to look forward. That´s the conclusion of the Terras Gauda winery´s announcement yesterday – coinciding with this years grape harvest – that it is the first company to carry out pioneering research to isolate and separate yeasts from albariño grapes in order to select the one that is best adapted to the characteristics of its wines. As the winery´s chairman, José María Fonseca Moretón, said yesterday, the objective is to "obtain a la carte yeasts in search of uniqueness and quality. The dream of any winemaker is for his wine to have continuity over time".

The yeasts in question are found in the vineyards and on the skin of the grapes. In this research is being carried out in partnership with the CSIC biology station, the firm hopes to "select the yeasts that behave the best at transforming the sugar into alcohol. We have isolated tour, which we will inoculate in small vats to check how they evolve by means of tasting and analysis. Then we will lyophilise them to preserve them", Emilio Rodríguez, the winery´s technical director, explained.

At the press briefing after the guided visit to the winery, Fonseca stressed the crucial times the winery is going through, when "research is key to improve processes and results in markets abroad, where we must break in with our uniqueness". He referred to a local Galician saying to explain that although Galician wines are good, targets must be met based on "quality, effort and hard work" in a market that has been "flooded with wines".

The director Enrique Costas and technical director Emilio Rodríguez explained that the winery has 90 hectares of its own vineyards, as well as the use of a further 70 hectares belonging of partners. "In all we have 160 hectares of vineyards under our control, 60 in full production, with plans to add for another 30 hectares in 2007".

The grape varieties used by the winery are 70% albariño (7,000 kilos/hectare), 20% loureiro (9,000 kilos/hectare) and 10% caíño blanco (6,000 kilos/hectare). The winery is particularly committed to caíño blanco, planting vines on 15 of the 30 hectares of new land. "It is a late-ripening variety and the core one for Terras Gauda. We´ll begin harvesting this Thursday or Friday". […]

(Article illustrated with several photographs)

News Source: Galicia Hoxe
Section: Galicia
Date: 26/09/06

Vendimia cinco estrellas
A campaña deste ano será mellor que a "insuperable" do 2005 polas boas condición climáticas – Unha bodega como Terras Gauda agarda producir 1.300.000 botellas de albariño

As Rías Baixas recollen nestes días o froito dun ano de esforzos en forma de uva e nos lindes desta prestixiosa ruta do viño chegamos ó Rosal, onde se atopa un dos referentes do albariño, Terras Gauda, que leva xa desde o 14 de setembro coa vendima, só interrumpida pola amenaza do Gordon.

Nas bodegas son máis que optimistas con esta campaña, "fantástica polo bo tempo que fixo", segundo suliña o director técnico Emilio Rodríguez. "Pensabamos que o 2005 ía ser insuperable pero este ano leva incluso mellor camiño", confesa sorprendido mentres amosa un acio de uvas esplendoroso. Iso, traducido en tanxible, fai un millón e medios de quilos de froita que darán lugar a 1.300.000 botellas.

Terras Gauda desenvolve a súa actividade na parroquia de Goián, no Rosal, en 90 hectáreas de terreo propio que contando coas dos seus socios fan un total de 160. Na campaña traballan 78 persoas a pé de campo, recollendo e transportando a uva, que é de tres variedades: albariño, o 70% da producción, loureiro, o 20%, e o caíño branco o 10%, que vai ser o novo estandarte da firma. Segundo explica o enólogo da casa Emilio Rodríguez, "esta variedade autóctona estábase abandonano, porque é de colleita moi tardía, pero imos recuperala para impulsala o ano que vén".

Dentro dos proxectos da bodega, destaca ademais o apartado de I+D+i, aínda que todos pensemos que a elaboración do viño é moito máis artesanal. Para avanzar, cómpre investigar e Terras Gauda sitúase na vangarda cun proxecto de selección clonal de uva albariño para atopar variedades resistentes ás afeccións máis comúns como a mildiu e a botrite e un estudo pioneiro para illar e separar levaduras de albariño co obxectivo de seleccionar as que mellor se adaptan ás características dos seus caldos…

(Más información)

A five-star harvest

This year´s grape harvest will be even better than the "unbeatable" campaign of 2005 thanks to the ideal weather conditions – a winery like Terras Gauda expects to produce 1.3 million bottles of albariño-based wine.

These days in the Rías Baixas the fruits of a year´s hard work are being harvested in the form of grapes. In the O Rosal district we find one of the leading points of reference for the albariño grape variety, Terras Gauda, which has been harvesting since 14 September, interrupted only to allow tropical storm Gordon to pass by.

The winery is very optimistic about the potential for this year´s production, which is "fantastic because we´ve had such good weather", says the firm´s technical director, Emilio Rodríguez. "We thought that 2005 would be impossible to beat, but this year looks even more promising", he says, clutching a magnificent bunch of grapes. In figures, this means 1.5 million kilos of fruit being turned into 1.3 million bottles of wine.

Terras Gauda is based in Goián parish, in the O Rosal district, with 90 hectares of its own land together with the use of its partners´ vineyards, making 160 hectares in all. This year 78 people are working in the vineyards collecting and transporting the grapes, which is grown in three varieties: albariño, which accounts for 70% of the firm´s production, 20% loureiro and 10% caíño blanco, which is set to become the company´s new standard bearer. According to the winery´s oenologist, Emilio Rodríguez, "this native variety was being abandoned because it ripens very late, but we´ve recovered it with a view to giving it a push next year".

Despite the widespread view that winemaking is a traditional business, the winery´s current projects include IDI research, necessary for progress to be made. Terras Gauda is pioneering a clone-selection project for the albariño grape variety, striving to find strains that are resistant to some of the moist common diseases, such as mildew and botrytis, as well as another study to select and isolate albariño years in order to select those that best adapt to the characteristics of the firm´s wines.[…]

News Source: La Voz de Galicia
Section: Vigo
Date: 26/09/06

Terras Gauda researches yeasts to beat the weather
The bodega is to lyophilise the strains to enhance the uniqueness and maintain the excellence of its wines

Wine specialists from the O Rosal winery Terras Gauda and the Spanish Scientific Research council (CSIC) are selecting albariño yeasts with a view to ensuring that the resulting wine has the same quality with no annual variations depending on the harvest. Four yeast strains have been chosen from the firm´s vineyards to study which behaves the best in fermentation, a process that takes about a month, according to one of the researchers on the project, Ana Oliveira.

Saccharomyses cerevisae, or grape yeast, is found in the skin of the grapes and is carried from one fruit to the next by the wind or by insects. The weather has a direct effect on the yeast production of each bunch of grapes. The yeast consumes the sugar in the grape and turns it into alcohol. The Terras Gauda scientists selected the yeast strains last year, and this year they will assess their behaviour in twelve tanks where wine is made in small quantities. Once the results have been obtained the best yeasts will be lyophilised and frozen, so that next year they can be inoculated in the large steel vats that are usually used to make the wine. Emilio Rodríguez said that the research is being carried out with the Pontevedra biology station, which depends on the Senior Scientific Research Centre, although with "little support from the Galician government. We don´t have an R&D department. The researchers are Ana and I".

Cloning

This yeast project is a pioneering study in Spain. No variety-specific albariño yeast is available on the market. ñOne laboratory has proposed producing it for sale but our research is focused on using it only for our own winesñ, Emilio Rodríguez said.

"We´re striving for uniqueness and maintaining the same type of wine over the years. That´s the dream of any winemaker, to always be able to offer the same quality", said José María Fonseca, the winery´s chairman and senior shareholder. Terras Gauda is also carrying out another research project to study grape cloning. They began with 115 different plants and after several screening processes have now selected four – the ones that are the most resistant to disease, ripen earliest and present the highest sugar content. The clones selected are grown in vitro and then planted outdoors in the winery´s 90 hectares of own vineyards. […]

(More information)

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