Amizade
Rías Baixas | Galicia
A collaborative, next-gen project by Manu Méndez of Do Ferreiro working with some of his family’s oldest friends in Rías Baixas, the homeland of albariño.
Introducing the Producer
A Tribute to Friendship
Amizade, which means “friendship” in the Galician language, is a collaborative project between Manu Méndez and a small group of growers and friends in Rías Baixas who have shaped the history of Bodegas Gerardo Méndez, better known as Do Ferreiro.
History & Origins
A Mosaic of Vineyards at the Edge of Spain
Rías Baixas, on the coast of Galicia in northwestern Spain, is the ancestral home of albariño. In the Salnés Valley, named for ancient Roman salt flats, the sea is never very far away. Trellised albariño vines are shrouded in morning fog that rolls off the Ría de Pontevedra, one of four estuaries that give the wine region (lower estuaries, in English) its name.
Home to over 20,000 individual plots of vines, the landscape was carved up over the centuries by inheritance laws that split property equally between all descendents. Here, the minifundio, or smallholding, reigns supreme. In this system, it’s common for each grower to farm a postage stamp-sized vineyard, which has meant that growers without the means to start their own wineries have always had relationships with established wineries such as Do Ferreiro.
Producer Bio
A Manu of the People
Manuel, or Manu, Méndez, is the heir to a long tradition of winemaking in the village of Meaño. His father, Gerardo, founded Bodegas Gerardo Méndez in the 1970s and was a pioneer in the creation of the Rías Baixas appellation in the late 1980s. Since then, Do Ferreiro has been considered one of the best albariños in the world.
Manu grew up among the vines. Along with his older sister Encarna, he helped his father with the gargantuan task of inspecting the 165 individual plots that go into Do Ferreiro, and watched as his father coaxed his trusted growers into farming more sustainably, with an eye on the long-term health of their vines and the environment. For three decades, some of Do Ferreiro’s most trusted suppliers have welcomed Manu into their tiny plots of vines, allowing him the space to experiment and continually push himself—and them—to improve.
Now, Manu has invited them to create something together, honoring the longstanding relationships his father began by working together to make wine that represents their friendship.
Process & Philosophy
Scions of Wine & the Vine
Grapes come from experimental plots farmed by Méndez family friends in the area around Meaño, planted between 8-10 years ago, which have just begun to produce mature fruit. The farmers of these myriad small plots all adhere to the same, traditional viticultural methods that’ve brought acclaim to Do Ferreiro’s wines, including organic practices and pergola training, encouraging even ripeness and naturally lower yields, while minimizing risk of mildew.
Vinified by Manu in the Do Ferreiro winery, Amizade is a crisp, acidity-driven albariño, expressing the energy held in the sandy granitic soils and ocean fog that define this corner of Rías Baixas.
Products
Wine
