The wines have "terroir"

Prizes for the best wines of the D.O. Ribeira Sacra.

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The Parador de Turismo in Monforte was the place chosen to celebrate the closing meal of the XVI edition of the D.O. Ribeira Sacra wine tasting. This event was used to present the prizes for the wines that the 15 tasters, that made up the tasting panel, considered to be the best wines.

In the white wine category there were 9 wines and the winners were:
Third prize: Almalarga de Pena das Donas S.L., Ribeiras do Miño region.
Second prize: Peza do Rei de Adega Cachín S.C., Ribeiras do Sil region.
First prize: Viña Vella de SAT Virxe dos Remedios, Ribeiras do Miño region.

In the category there were 44 samples and the winners were:
Third prize: Quinta de Albarado de As Oubenzas C.B., Chantada region.
Second prize: Veiga do Bacelo de Bodegas Santa María de Nogueira S.L., Chantada region.
First prize: Regina Viarum de Regina Viarum S.L., Amandi region.

For the third year running there was an additional category, wines from previous harvests. There were 13 participants in this category with only one prize which was won by:
Algueira mencía barrica 2007 de Adega Algueira S.L., Amandi region.

The Regulatory Council of the D.O. Ribeira Sacra, presented pieces of pottery from Gundivós (Sober) as its prizes, continuing its tradition of promoting this region and its products.

The tasters from the panel highlighted the quality of the wines from the last harvest, their freshness and the special characteristics that make the wine unique, that is called 'terroir'.

Luis Moreno Buj, specialist magazine contributor, Televisión de Valencia: â??The quality of this wine is very good. These wines are well structured and balanced. I particularly like that the fruit stands out over the mineral elements, it is what appeals to me and there were many examples of this. The D.O. is very special, it is a region that can imbue the wines with its landscape and the culture of wine production that is here. I love the Mencías from here.'

José Felicísimo Pereira Freijido, member of the Association of Galician Wine Tasters: â??The wines have made a good impression, they are very uniform wines. I especially like the red wines from this D.O. because of their freshness and their fruity flavour. These are special wines because the quality of the grapes is passed on to the wine, the characteristics of the soil, the production.....'

José Manuel Martínez Juste, President of the Association of Galician Enologists: â??I have found wines of excellent quality here, with regards to the prize winners you could say they are unique wines, they are wines that have the capacity to translate the 'terroir', the climate, the grape,....to the palate. They have a personal mark.'