Ribeiro Blanco

Ribeiro

Alter

Alter came highly recommended by Lalo Antón of Izadi. He had admired this...

small, family-run winery since their first vintage a couple of years ago marked them out as one of the most serious producers in the region. The winery was founded by José Pérez Pousa on the banks of the Miño river in 2014, with the wish to preserve the tradition of their native land, where wine has been produced since the 2nd century BCE. The wine is named ‘alter’ to mean ‘another wine more’ in Latin.

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Vineyards

Alter has 24 hectares of its own vineyards, which are divided into 168 small plots planted with native white varieties Treixadura, Godello and Loureira. The vines are on average 15-30 years old and are planted on decomposed granite, with sand and clay. The vineyards benefit from a perfect mesoclimate with good diurnal ranges particularly during the growing season. Fruit is able to fully ripen while retaining fresh acidity.

Vintage Information

The harvest started a little later than in 2015 in Ribeiro and took place steadily over six weeks. Fruit was high in quality even with volumes being down by 18% largely due to heavy spring rains and outbreaks of mildew in April and May. The adverse weather had a greater impact on non-indigenous grapes than it did for local grapes such as Treixadura and Loureira.

Vinification

The wine is a blend of 80% Treixadura, 15% Godello and 5% Loureira fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and then aged on the lees for 3-6 months to add depth.

Tasting Notes

The wine is aromatic with aromas of white flowers, grapefruit and green apple. The palate is lively with brisk acidity, white peach and a delightful savouriness that prompts you to reach for another glass.

Vintage Information

Vintage 2016
Grape varieties 80% Treixadura
15% Godello/Gouveio
5% Loureiro
Region Ribeiro, Galicia
Winemaker Pablo Estevez Melendez
Alcohol (ABV) 12.5%
Acidity 5g/l
Residual Sugar 0.7g/l
Wine pH 3.55