Highly regarded for crafting world-class white wines from albariño with incredible transparency, flavor, and depth, Do Ferreiro has become a reference point for the variety. They farm over 175 tiny plots of albariño by hand, all located in the heart of the Salnés subzone of Rías Baixas. The valley’s proximity to the ocean, ideal climate due to the natural protection by mountain ranges, and decomposed granitic soil have gained the reputation for being the ideal region in Rías Baixas for producing profound, terruño-driven albariño wines capable of improving in bottle. Do Ferreiro does not blend other grape varieties into their albariño wines, as is common in Rías Baixas. Farming is practicing organic, and fermentations are exclusively carried out by native yeasts.

With their limited single-vineyard series, Do Ferreiro winemaker Manuel Méndez continues the exploration of Salnés Valley’s potential by isolating exceptional vineyards and exploring how different soils, elevations, and exposures translate into world-class white wine. Do Ferreiro’s single vineyards demonstrate that the terruño of Rías Baixas is multidimensional and complex, yielding singular wines capable of improving in bottle for a decade or more. These singular expressions are available once a year in very limited quantities.

Tomada do Sapo is an exceptional, extremely limited new cuvée from a unique Clos vineyard (enclosed by stone walls) in the Salnés subzone called Tomada do Sapo, where vines are planted near a forest, facing the Ría de Pontevedra in the village of Meaño. Albariño is grown on hard, decomposed granite soils with a calcareous clay base, located at the highest elevation of the region at 250m above the winery in a slightly cooler climate with more fog and wind than other areas. It is a place with a lot of influence from the Ría de Pontevedra, hence a heavy influence from the sea and fog and therefore prone to rot. When the vines were pergola trained in this vineyard, the vines generated lots of botrytis, and as a result, they were only able to pick grapes one year out of every three. Tomada do Sapo was completely replanted with a massale selection from their Cepas Vellas vineyard to trellised vines at a very high density with guyot pruning in 2013 to experiment with the system for the aeration it provides for this specific plot. Gerardo Méndez was the first grower in the region to plant at this high of an altitude. 

Tomada do Sapo is harmonious, mineral, and precise, with pronounced salinity and a broad but fresh palate. It is the last vineyard to be harvested each year because of the high altitude, and it has complete ripeness and good acidity, which makes it capable of improving in bottle for ten years or more. 

Vinification – Bunches are hand-selected in the vineyard, handpicked, and placed in small crates. Grapes are destemmed, cold-macerated for a few hours, and pressed. A natural yeast fermentation begins using a pied de cuve from the winery’s historic Cepas Vellas vineyard, followed by aging on the lees for nine months without bâtonnage in stainless steel tanks. No malolactic fermentation, unfiltered, light bentonite fining.

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