The climate of the region is almost sub-tropical: warm days and one shower almost everyday. In the 80’s, fortunately, things began to change (like everywhere in the Spanish world of wine). In 1988, the D.O. Rias Baixas was founded, named after the "Rias", the Spanish equivalent to the Norwegian fjord, that go deeper into the land and shelter seafood like oysters or mussels.
The Rias are divided in two groups: Rias Altas, to the nord, around La Coruña and
Rias Baixas, in the south, between Pontevreda and the Portuguese border, on the Miño River.
What brought back this region on the world wine list was the Albariño grape. This varietal is said to have been brought there in the 12th century by Cistercian monks of the Rhine region, coming on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
Anyway, it is a very aromatic grape, with a lot of structure and suitable for ageing, provided the yield is limited and the concentration adequate.
After some years, good Albariños develop into beautiful mineral wines, all the more so as the subsoil of the Rias Baixas is mainly granite or granitic sands.
The vineyard covers 2,200 hectares, 90% of which is Albariño.
It divided into 5 subzones, the 3 most important being Val do Salnés, Condado do Tea and O Rosal.