This delightful Atlantic wine from the Galician DO Ribeiro we had at Málaga’s Los Patios de Beatas wine bar and restaurant tonight.
Ricardo Carreiro of Gomariz was one of the pioneers of modern day Ribeiro when he started to recover indigenous grape varieties and helped to set up various projects. Ricardo jr took over in 2000 and hired oenologist Xosé Lois Sebio, and the winery has since then become one of the leading lights of the region.
Both reds and whites are made in their 28 hectares estate, some farmed biodynamically.
Contrary to popular belief the red wines are common in the area. Many are blends that contain the sousón, a variety with good structure and compatible with oak treatment.
The Flower and the Bee is some kind of a side project that we have commented on before. Apart from this, Abadía de Gomariz can be regarded as an entry level red. It’s a blend of sousón (50%), brancellao, ferrol and mencía. The vines are trained in espalderas. The soils here in the Avia valley are schist, sand and clay. The must was pre-fermented at cold temperatures, and the alcoholic fermentation was done in steel tanks with frecuent pumping-over. The wine stayed in used 300L barrels, mostly French, for a year.
Abadía de Gomariz 2011 (Coto de Gomariz)
Deep brilliant purple. Aroma of dark berries (black cherries), herbs and some spicy and balsamic notes (eucalyptus). Fleshy in the mouth, luscious but still with some bitterness in the end. The tannins are rounded off with some time in the glass.
Price: Low
Food: Light meat, lamb, white fish, squid (Pulpo a la Gallega)… With its fruit and freshness it’s a very versatile wine. At Los Patios we had it with blackened cod with sesame seeds and Oriental spices.