Adega Sainas


Ribeira Sacra

Location Cabe Valley (Mino subzone)-5ha
Grapes Mencia, Godello, Merenzao, Brancallao, Garnacha Tinto Roriz
Viticulture Biodynamic / Organic
Producer Jorge and Saleta
Website sainas.com
Location Cabe Valley (Mino subzone)-5ha
Grapes Mencia, Godello, Merenzao, Brancallao, Garnacha Tinto Roriz
Viticulture Biodynamic / Organic
Producer Jorge and Saleta
Website sainas.com

In 2018, Jorge and Saleta Moved into a small flat above the winery of Sainas to take over the reins from her father. He wanted to retire, and Jorge, a man of the soil himself saw the huge potential in the parcels of vines that tumbled down into the V-shaped valley below the village. The first step was to asses the vines in terms of age and quality, whilst revitalising the microbiome and initiating a biodynamic regime within the vines. This is work that can only be done by hand, with tilling, pruning (where ventilation and sap flow are both considered) hoeing and harvesting all taking place on vertiginous slopes.

 

The estate is located 5km north-west of Sober, a small village with a big reputation. This is not the region of sweeping curves, with micro terraces plummeting to a sedentary Sil river. This part of Ribera Sacra is higher, cooler and much more parcellated. The slopes are no less steel as the Cabe river has cut through the granite and works its way through the slates and schist. It is verdant and feels more balanced with biodiverse flora and fauna in abundance. Each parcel is named and will play its part in one of the four red cuvees Jorge produces (the Godello is a new addition and planted around the cellar).

 

The cellar, under the house, is a neat affair newly built overlooking the old building, which itself has the feel of an older Spain. The Adega has been reborn, even down to the labelling, and the small stainless steel fermentation vats and neatly lined French oak barrels suggest a seriousness and attention to detail that is a direct line from the vineyard. Jorge produces four wines, loosely based on the 7 parcels, but also with focus on older plots, or even vines. Fermentation is spontaneous, with whole bunches being used as a portion of the blend, increasing with each step up. Oak is used to round tannins and to ‘bring the vines’ together, in Jorge’s words. Nothing is prescriptive and as he moves into the next vintage he is excited about tweaks he can make, vines he can use, tanks he can use to finesse the wines.

 

The resulting wines are simply beautiful. Personally I have always favoured wines from the vineyards in the smaller valleys and plateau tops to the Sil valley, where they can be overworked, aggressive and too dense. Here, there is an airy finesse to the wines, weight without weight, and such silky elegance it is hard to not get lost in them. Jorge is a master of his craft, but also consults with Luis Seabra of Xisto Cru to get a sound second opinion he trusts, and the wines are super.


Adega Sainas Wines

Silente A blend of fruit from 7 plots but principally from the Laxes vineyard where clay is present at the top of the hill. All produced in stainless steel vat and aged for 1 year in tank. No whole bunch. Blue damson fruit, sweet spice with a citrus freshness hallmarking the palate. Silken tannins keep the fruit lifted and seamless to the finish.
Sinuoso From the As Sainas parcel, 1.3ha of steep sloping old vines planted on a south west plane. Planted in 1994. Granite at the top, schist at the bottom. 400 metres. 20% whole bunch and 50% 500 litre oak for one year. Sinuoso has fruit de bois on the nose, more brooding than Silente, and denser on the palate. The tannins again ride seamlessly through the wine leaving a mineral coolness with a loft of sweet spice. Cool finish and long in the mouth.
Secular 0.5ha Penacabala vineyard, which is loosely terraced holding Mencia and Brancellao. Granite and sandy slate soils. 40% Wholebunch with 100% old oak elevage for 12 months. An open faced cuvee. Light, detailed and fragile on both nose and palate. The tannins do show a little bit of grain in the mid but fruit brushes in and works long into the finish. Elegant and light footed wine.
Secreto Oldest vines of As Sainas and Penacabala vineyards (over 100 years). 60% wholebunch 100% oak 12 months. This is the very pinnacle of Ribera Sacra terroir. So complex and seamless, elegance with no pretence or extraction. Exudes its sense of place with ease and finesse. The concentration of fruit and refined structure, allied to a cool mineral mouthfeel will allow this to age but is equally delicious now.
Silente A blend of fruit from 7 plots but principally from the Laxes vineyard where clay is present at the top of the hill. All produced in stainless steel vat and aged for 1 year in tank. No whole bunch. Blue damson fruit, sweet spice with a citrus freshness hallmarking the palate. Silken tannins keep the fruit lifted and seamless to the finish.
Sinuoso From the As Sainas parcel, 1.3ha of steep sloping old vines planted on a south west plane. Planted in 1994. Granite at the top, schist at the bottom. 400 metres. 20% whole bunch and 50% 500 litre oak for one year. Sinuoso has fruit de bois on the nose, more brooding than Silente, and denser on the palate. The tannins again ride seamlessly through the wine leaving a mineral coolness with a loft of sweet spice. Cool finish and long in the mouth.
Secular 0.5ha Penacabala vineyard, which is loosely terraced holding Mencia and Brancellao. Granite and sandy slate soils. 40% Wholebunch with 100% old oak elevage for 12 months. An open faced cuvee. Light, detailed and fragile on both nose and palate. The tannins do show a little bit of grain in the mid but fruit brushes in and works long into the finish. Elegant and light footed wine.
Secreto Oldest vines of As Sainas and Penacabala vineyards (over 100 years). 60% wholebunch 100% oak 12 months. This is the very pinnacle of Ribera Sacra terroir. So complex and seamless, elegance with no pretence or extraction. Exudes its sense of place with ease and finesse. The concentration of fruit and refined structure, allied to a cool mineral mouthfeel will allow this to age but is equally delicious now.