Rias Baixas (salnes valley)

Location terms can be tricky in Galicia, don’t rely on your GPS! Zarate is located in the Lugar (a small community, maybe 20 families) of Bouza in the Parochia (ambit of influence of a priest) of Padrenda which is a collection of 10 lugares and about 300 families, in the council of Meaño. I’m worn out just thinking about it! Castro Martin are their neighbourin the Parochia of Barrantes about 3km to the north in the council of Ribadumia.

Originally Basques from Rioja, the Zarate family came to Cambados (capital of the Salnes Valley wine trade) in 1707. Many generations of mixed farming later, the family estate is now devoted solely to wine. 40 year old Eulogio Pomares and his wife Rebecca Zarate are in charge. Trained at Bordeaux, Eulogio is extremely focused on vineyard management, and is the first organic grower in the region. His grandfather Ernesto was the founder of the annual Cambados Albariño festival in 1953. Eulogio and Rebecca took over in 1999 and have considerably upgraded viti-and-vini-culture.

Zarate farm covers about 10 hectares spread over 12 vineyard parcels on Xabre - a mineral granitic soil giving long ageing potential to the wines. The principal variety planted is Albariño, but they also grow native red varieties Caiño Tinto, Loureiro Tinto and Espadeiro (there are currently 1.5 hectares of Tinto, mainly newly planted).

Since 1994, the Zarate vineyards have been un-tilled, with permanent natural cover (mint, dandelion and a dozen other herbs) and there are no herbicides or chemically synthesised nutrients. The grass is cut for mulch three times/year and no fertilisers are used. New vineyards are composted once with sardines and Atlantic seaweed, and planted to diverse massale selections of quality genetic material from Eulogio’s best holdings. Mildew is attacked with rock sulphur in powder and spray form, and a variety of copper formats are applied at extremely low levels to avoid soil toxicity. 

While most vines are on American rootstocks, about 15% of their holdings as pre-phylloxeric (Zarate Estate did not suffer from phylloxera). Ungrafted vines grown on pergolas affect a natural yield limit (and supposedly a corollary quality increment) to about 5 tonnes/hectare, compared to up to 15 t/ha from grafted vines grown on trellises. These old vines have lower PH soils with enhanced calcium (they are old oyster middens!). There are three stands of Pie Franco, most significantly, the Palomar plot adjacent to the bodega, planted in 1850. Palomar vineyard also has a very small amount of ancient Loureiro Tinto and Caiño Tinto which survived phylloxera. Bear in mind that pre-1895 when mildew and phylloxera wiped out 99% of the region, Salnes Valley was 95% Tinto – the main varietal red at the time being Espadeiro, which Zarate are currently re-planting. Eulogio also has his own still on site for making artisanal Aguardiente. 

Like most of Salnes, Zarate’s vines are planted ‘en parra’ on granite pergolas about 2 metres above the ground. The use of pergolas to distance the fruit from soil humidity dates since the early 20^th century – prior to phylloxera, most vines were traditional Spanish ‘en vaso’ goblet-pruned bush-vines. Currently, Salnes is planted to around 2500 hectares – this is just 1/10th of the area under vine prior to the advent of phylloxera … figures consistent with Bierzo, Priorat and many other regions in terms of pre-versus-post phylloxera cropping. Rias Baixas laws allow for yields of 12 tonnes/hectare, but Zarate crop at 6.

Zarate wine-making

Zarate’s fruit is hand-picked, typically yielding just 100 gram bunches. The picking process is spread over six weeks from early September. There is bunch selection in the field followed by further bunch and berry selection on sorting table in the bodega to ensure optimally ripe and healthy fruit. The vineyards are picked and fermented separately and then blended as finished wines. About 10-25% of white wine goes through malo, depending upon the conditions of the year.

Until 1999, the wines were fermented in Bocoi – 550 litre Chesnut casks, since then they have been largely made in stainless steel deposits ranging from 300-2000 litres. 90% of wine is Zarate’s Estate Albariño, with tiny production quantities of three single vineyard Albariño wines. These three taken together constitute an essay on the textural possibilities of Albariño, exploring the limits of winemaking and texture in this local variety.

Zarate’s estate wine is classical in style, based on the granitic soils of Salnes Valley and embracing the pinging acidity of Albariño. It’s first big sister, Balado is an enhanced version – the standard model fermented in stainless gets a brief time unstirred on lees for textural richness, and Balado extends this to 6 months. The result is simply a deeper-set, more profound expression of classical Salnes wine, and is entirely consistent with the Estate wine. The other two single vineyards, however, constitute somewhat of a departure. Tras da Vinya is another stainless steel wine, but aged over 2 years on lees, while el Palomar is barrel-fermented.

Produced from vines averaging 35 years old, Zarate’s estate wine is based on minerality and acidity, the combination of Salnes valley Granite and Albariño’s coastal zip producing a fresh, elegant, balanced wine. The fruit is hand-picked, sorted by the bunch in the vineyard, and then berry plucked in the bodega. Gentle pressing gives a low-yield must which is cold-settled and undergoes natural fermentation, then spends 3 months on lees before filtration and bottling. Eulogio plays with MLF a little for complexity, and on average (there is more need of malolactic fermentation in cold years) about a third of the Estate blend goes through malo. Planting density is 1200 vines/hectare, alcohol 12.7, acidity 7.1 g/l, VA 0.5 g/l, pH 3.0, free SO2 22 mg/l, residual sugar 1.6 g/l. 30,000 bottles produced, released as three separate assemblage bottlings in January, June and August.

Punchy nose of lemon drop and green-grassy herbs with a fennel pollen zap! The skinsy component adds a nice fat lemon jube texture without any cloy or caramel. Delicate overall, totally satisfying. Pure Salnes Valley.

 ‘Balo’ in Gallego means wall, like the French term, ‘clos’. This tiny granite-walled vineyard of just 0.25 hectares contains two plots which were re-planted to ungrafted material in 1950. South-facing, with shallow poor Xabre sand soils, organically farmed. About 1500 bottles are produced, fermented in stainless as for the Zarate Estate wine, without malo, then given a second ageing of 6 months unstirred in small stainless tank on fine lees, once racked off the gross lees from fermentation. Gently enhanced flesh and textural volume and fine aromatic complexity result. Alcohol 13.6, free SO2 34 mg/l, 2600 bottles. 

Steely, mineral, sandy-granitic-smoky to smell, the lemony fruit rings with tilled green herbs, with fennel giving a delicate anisey tang. The palate is pepper-grassy, filled with apples and preserved lemon, with a wonderful sense of draw in the mouth, gaining an oyster-shell chalkiness as it moves through. Delicate, stunningly composed. A world class ‘grand cru’ in any lineup!

Bottled separately since 2004 vintage. ‘Tras da Vinya’ is a grafted single vineyard of just 0.6 hectares facing south. The vineyard was planted in 1970 with cuttings from the el Palomar vineyard, but on rootstocks and has deeper, richer soil than Balado and Palomar. This wine has a very high malic content due to its sandy soil, is made in stainless steel by spontaneous fermentation.  The wine is racked immediately following fermentation (4 months unsulphured on gross lees), then spends 24 months (more in cold, wet years perhaps) on fine lees, unstirred in tank, with no MLF.

12.3% alcohol, 6.6 g/l total acidity, less than 1.5 g/l residual sugar, 24 mg/l free SO2, 2600 bottles.

Subtly smoky with a deep solidsy feel due to long lees ageing. There’s yellow earthiness, fatly ripe meyer lemons, lemongrass-lime, hay, honeycomb and broader prickly pear fleshiness. Chablis-like in the mouth, it has lovely gentle roundness but great structure and acid line. Savoury, lush and deeply textural, the plush orchard fruits palate is softly spicy with a good chunk of mid-palate chew yet retains a good sense of granitic mineral and varietal acid freshness to finish. 

Since 2003, ‘el Palomar’ has been made as a single vineyard wine. Adjacent to the Zarate winery, El Palomar was planted in 1740. It’s just half a hectare of 100-200 year-old ungrafted Albariño vines on shallow granite soil over hard granitic bedrock. The roots drill right down into the rock looking for nutrients, and struggle to yield 44 hectolitres to the hectare. De-stemmed, the hand selected berries are slowly, gently pressed then fermented in a single 10-year-old 22 hectolitre round Seguin Moreau Vosges oak vat. It’s 6 months on gross lees, unracked and unsulphured, then racked and put back into vat on fine lees for a further 3 months, and malolactic fermentation takes place in vat. There is no battonage. 2600 bottles, bone dry, 13.7% a/v, 26 mg/l free SO2, 6.9 g/l total acidity, pH 3.3.

With power and precision, this has full on lemon drop streaked with zest and a touch of vanilla richness, puffed rice cereal goldenness is tucked with a green tinge. It has a wonderful satin texture with a fantastic ‘pop’ at the end.

ZARATE Aguardientes

Eulogio has a tiny distinct bodega with a still in it, license to produce 1000 litres of spirit/year. The result is really clean and pure, making a standard white flame-thrower and a herbal version. The Zarate Hierbas Aguardiente has 12 botanicals including coriander, cinnamon, black tea, mint and saffron to give its pale yellow colour.

ZARATE TINTOS (and other wanderings)

The varietal reds, Caiño Tinto, Loureiro Tinto and Espadeiro constitute somewhat of a cultural heritage project, as Zarate have some of the only remnant plantings of these once-dominant local varietals. They are foot-trodden, de-stemmed and open-fermented through 8 weeks, then aged in old 500 litre french oak. Alcohol content in the 11-11.5% range.

ZARATE Espadairo Tinto

Pine resin, mountain firs, stoned cherries (can't tell where the granite ends and the berry begins), a touch gamey and medicinal, agrodulce. Light, complete, open, spicy, dancy ethereal.

Zarate Caiño Tinto

Fleshy caponata red fruits, the nose surprisingly rich and seductive. Slicked up with classy oak, but which nevertheless sits entirely within the fruit on the palate. Mouthfeel is very fresh, brisk, with tart fruit skin grip and predictably high coastal acidity. Redcurrant and appleskin, stemmy, nice sour acid, and smoky skins, very agrodulce, light and nimble, not at all oaky.

EULOGIO POMARES WINES

EULOGIO POMARES ‘la Galaxia’ Tinta Roriz/Jaen Vinho Rosado, DO DÃO, Portugal Eulogio is a fan of “having projects”. Many of these started out as whacky side takes of Rías Baixas offerings (some of which are written up below). Here he has stepped out with an old TSA friend, Alvaro Castro in the Dão to craft a fantastic premium pink, ideally mixing delicacy, interest and texture. It’s a 50:50 blend of Tinta Roriz (Portugal’s name for Tempranillo) and Jaen (Mencía). The fruit comes from high granite soils in the ‘Serra de Estrella’ on Portugal’s inland border with Spain (above all those delicious Jamon piglets in Extramadura! Grown around 550m from vineyards up to 65 years old. Handling is a very simple direct press to stainless steel.

Eulogio likes to call this a pink with the soul of a white!
It’s a delicate, luminous pink colour and has wonderful mineral freshness from the cold mountain soils, layered with citrus and white flowers. A lovely fruit profile has tension, freshness, highly satisfying flavour and texture, pulled together with remarkable elegance.

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TASTING NOTES ON OLDER VINTAGES