
The Valminor Estate
One of the newcomers, Adegas Valmiñor was founded in 1997 and is based in Rosal and boasts a new, ultramodern winery that produces 25,000 cases yearly of 100% Albariño "Valmiñor". (Note: “Adegas” means “bodegas” [winery] in the local Galician dialect). Owner, Carlos Gomez, makes about 3 different white wines, but Albariño is his speciality.
Carlos Gómez started Valmiñor in 1997 and headed up the project to build and open the new facilities in 2001. A trained executive with extensive experience in the wine business, Carlos founded Valmiñor and has since continued to expand the group's capacity to include Bodegas Ebano in Ribera del Duero in 2004, and more recently acquired a second Rías Baixas producer, Viñas o Torroxal. Today the group also includes a distribution company, as well as an agricultural services organization.
he winemaker Cristina Mantilla has been working as Valminor's winemaker since the very beginning in 1997. She obtained a Chemical Degree at the prestigious University of Santiago de Compostela and post-graduated in Oenology and Viticulture in Madrid. She started working in Rías Baixas but as her experience grows she also works beyond the Galician borders. In 97 Carlos Gómez founded the winery and Cristina Mantilla decided to join and give birth to a new and dynamic project with a very clear idea in mind.
Cristina has been the sole winemaker from the very first vintage of all the wines elaborated at Valminor and the bodega in Ribera del Duero, EBANO.
Cristina has furthered her carreer by producing white wine from 100% Loureiro grapes (skin contact versions) and she made the first ever Rosé style wine in Galicia. She is definitely a pioneer in making unique wines in Galicia.
The Valminor Vineyards
Galicia has a mild climate without dramatic changes in the weather, a soil rich in minerals and excellent conditions for maturing and it makes this valley the perfect place for growing quality varieties like Albariño, Loureiro and Treixadura.
Adegas Valmiñor owns 34 hectares in O Rosal, and uses purchased fruit from two prime growing areas: 40% Cambados and 60% Arbo fruit (a unique micro-climate that is a touch warmer than other areas). The Cambados region is located on the coast and provides acidity and freshness to the wine. Together the two fruit sources make a superb blend. Valmiñor means "minor valley" and today Valmiñor has built a new winery in O Rosal.
Valminor Albarino Rias Baixas is made from 100 percent Albarino.
Albariño is a Portuguese grape, native to the Miño River region, which separates Galicia & the Rias Baixas DO from Portugal. Albariño has a characteristic citrus aroma & high acidity.
Valminor Albarino presents a yellow straw color. On the nose, the wine shows a wide fruity range of aromas, with notes of fresh grapefruit, apricot and melon. In the mouth, Valminor combines fruity flavors and freshness with a rounded acidity, resulting in a balanced wine that boasts an opulent taste and slight spritziness.
Review:
"Elaborate swirls of lime, lemon, passionfruit and white peach entice the nose whilst the pristine purity of acidity and mineral freshness disarms the terroir-driven palate. Salty, linear and tangy, demonstrating Atlantic style at its best."
- Decanter World Wine Awards 2025, 97 pts and Platinum Medal
Luis Canas Rioja Hiru 3 Racimos is 100% Tempranillo
60 years old vines
Alcohol: 14,5º
Total acidity: 6,0 gr/l
Volatile acidity: 0,50 gr/l
PH: 3,47
Free SO2: 25 mg/l
Reducing sugars: 1,8 gr/l
This wine is a response to our quest to find the perfect wine, one that combines structure, complexity and balance. It is the result of a careful selection of grapes not from the vines but from the appropriate clusters, those that naturally produce three or less clusters and which are 60 or more years of age. Vines situated on slopes and terraces of limestone and clay soil, well exposed to the sun. These grapes are harvested in small boxes at the very best moment, then inspected on the selection table and vinified in small groups at a controlled temperature. After alcoholic fermentation they are macerated to extract their full potential. The resulting most is then settled in new French and American oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation. This second fermentation ensures the wine gains in complexity and aromatic intensity, it also stabilises its colour.
Fully ripened and concentrated fruit aromas with balsamic and spicy mineral nuances, notes of blackberry and blueberry preserve wrapped in creamy oak, caramel and milky coffee tones. The palate is concentrated, unctuous in the centre, balanced, sweet, with fine tannins. Very long finish, expressive, clearly marked with the character of the soil.
Hiru 3 racimos is a complex wine and so is its pairing with food. We must consider two options, either drink it in light sips so that the wine itself is the star of the feast, or serve with solid dishes that can match its vigour. An Iberian pork loin with roasted peppers, steak with mushrooms and plums, wild boar stew or pheasant in port are dishes that blend incredibly with this characterful wine.
Avennia Arnaut Syrah is made of 100% Syrah
For our taste, no one grows finer Syrah in the state than Dick Boushey. We named this wine after the Provencal Troubadour Arnaut Daniel, who invented the Sestina poem form, thus creating a connection between our two flagship efforts.
"Deep, dark Syrah notes on the nose, with dark blackberry, blueberry reduction, grilled meat, crushed olive, black licorice, camphor, pen ink, and cracked black pepper. The palate is super concentrated and dense, tightly focused, and deeply complex. Savory blueberry, pan drippings, a hint of orange essence, and hand-rubbed sage come through on the extremely long and nuanced finish. A compelling wine that will age for a couple decades at least." - Chris Peterson, Winemaker
We make this wine with minimal manipulation, using native yeasts and bottling unfined and unfiltered, to allow the "place" to shine through.
AVA: Yakima Valley
Blend: 100% Boushey Vineyard Syrah
Winemaking: 15% whole cluster, native yeast, 15% new French oak, aged 16 months, bottled unfined & unfiltered.
Review:
The totally dazzling 2032 ‘Arnaut’ Syrah comes from the Boushey Vineyard and is 100% varietal and native yeast fermented. The wine was stored in nearly all neutral French oak before bottling. It can benefit from a one hour decant and once aroused this exudes class with bacon fat and green peppercorns on the nose alongside tar, Cuban cigar and shades of black licorice. The palate is silky and refined with serious texture and underlying verve. Dense and rich, as well as very savory, enjoy now and over the next fifteen years to come.
Owen Bargreen 96 Points