Adegas Valmiñor
 Rias Baixas - Ribera del Duero (Spain)

The Estate
One of the newcomers, Adegas Valmiñor was founded in 1997 and is  based in Rosal and boasts a new, ultramodern winery that makes some 200,000 bottles per year of 100% Albariño "Valmiñor". (Note: “Adegas” means “bodegas” [winery] in the local Galician dialect). Owner, Carlos Gomez, produces about 15,000 to 17,000 cases of pure Albariño wine per year.

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.


Carlos Gomez, the owner

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: to use the most modern technology combined with a very deep loyalty to tradition.
Cristina has been the first and sole winemaker from the very first vintage of all the wines elaborated at Valminor and the bodega in Ribera del Duero.
Cristina shows a great commitment to several principles: loyalty to the unique character of the albariño grape and, as it can be demonstrated in Valmiñor, an intense work and care to the wines from Rías Baixas. The wines are produced from grapes of excellent quality. They show a great intensity, structure and complexity.
Cristina has also gone further in the Oenology world making unique wines in Spain as a 100% loureiro and she is also about to launch the first rosé wine ever made in Galicia. She is definitely a pioneer in making unique wines in Galicia.


Cristina Mantilla, the winemaker

The Vineyards
A mild climate without dramatic changes in the weather, a soil rich in minerals and excellent conditions for maturing make 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 Rosal.


The Figueiro vineyard - probably the most interesting - it's one of the few old-style vineyards in the area, planted on ancient metamorphic schist soils. Most modern vineyards have excavated terraces and in doing so have moved & broken up the original conformation of the land and soils.


Aerial view of the vineyards

The Wines

 

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#S1EE331001ABS
UPC code: 7 84585 00190 3
2010 Valminor, Albariño 12/750ml
The grapes are preselected in the vineyards, then at the winery on a sorting table before destemming. Cold maceration (10ºC) during 6-8 hours. Static settling of the juice. Pressing. Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel under an automatic temperature control. Stabilization of the wine, filtration through a tangential filter and bottling. Resting in the bottle for thirty days prior to distribution.
A yellow straw color.
On the nose, the wine shows intense fruity aromas of fresh grapefruit, apricot and melon. In the mouth, Valmiñor combines fruity flavors and freshness with a rounded acidity, resulting in a balanced wine that boasts an opulent taste with elegant aromas and slight spritziness.

"Pale yellow-gold. High-pitched aromas of lemon zest, honeysuckle and spices. Sappy, floral-accented citrus and pear skin flavors show good depth and a refreshingly bitter quality on the back half. Dry and precise, with a spicy edge to the long, clean, powerful finish."
-
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Josh Raynolds Sept/Oct 2011), 90pts

"Adegas Valminor's 2010 Albarino displays an inviting bouquet of mineral, lemon zest, melon, and spring flowers. This leads to a medium-bodied, spicy, savory, nicely proportioned Albarino with plenty of volume and length. Drink it over the next 3-4 years."
- Wine Advocate (June 2011), 88 pts

#S1EE331019ABS
UPC code: 7 84585 00250 4
2009 Valminor, Albariño 12/750ml
The grapes are preselected in the vineyards, then at the winery on a sorting table before destemming. Cold maceration (10ºC) during 6-8 hours. Static settling of the juice. Pressing. Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel under an automatic temperature control. Stabilization of the wine, filtration through a tangential filter and bottling. Resting in the bottle for thirty days prior to distribution.
A yellow straw color.
On the nose, the wine shows intense fruity aromas of fresh grapefruit, apricot and melon. In the mouth, Valmiñor combines fruity flavors and freshness with a rounded acidity, resulting in a balanced wine that boasts an opulent taste with elegant aromas and slight spritziness.

"This fresh white has a lively attack, with lemon and lime flavors that are juicy and crisp. Focused, with good typicity. Drink now. 25,000 cases made. –TM"
- Wine Spectator (Web Only 2010)

SILVER MEDAL - 2011 Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition


"More tan in color than the usual light yellow, with true aromas of flower blossoms, lemon and tropical fruits. The acidity is a bit pronounced and scouring, but that only means that the citrus and green apple flavors cut and cleanse."

- Wine Enthusiast (August 2010), 87 pts

"Bright yellow-gold color. Musky pear skin and lemon pith aromas, with a touch of mint adding lift. Zesty, sharply focused citrus flavors are a bit clipped on the back end. Finishes with a dried lemon peel quality and a touch of herbs."
-
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar (Sept:oct 2011), 88pts


2008 Valminor, Albariño 12/750ml
"Spain is the source of many of the world's best wine values, including Valminor Albarino Rias Baixas 2008 that bursts with apricot, grapefruit and apple aromas and flavors that linger with a touch of minerals and tangerines."
www.gazette.net (June 2010)
Grape Lines: White is one of summer's genuine pleasures

"Valminor’s 2008 Albarino is medium straw-colored with an attractive nose of lemon and melon. Crisp, spicy, and balanced, this lengthy Albarino will drink well over the next 3 years."
- Wine Advocate (April 2010), 88 pts




National Retail Price: $18.99 / bottle