Bodegas Gerardo Méndez

Gerardo Méndez was part of the original group of 14 pioneering growers who formed the Denominación de Origen Rías Baixas in 1988. Originally from a family of blacksmiths (Ferreiro = blacksmith in the Galician language), he named his now-iconic wine Do Ferreiro, “From the Blacksmith.” Gerardo made his first wine in 1973, and the first vintage-labeled wine in 1986. The Méndez family home is located in Meaño, facing the Ría de Arousa in the Val do Salnés subzone of DO Rías Baixas.

Directly in front of the house is the 200-plus year-old, pre-phylloxera Cepas Vellas (Old Vines) vineyard, home to the oldest documented Albariño vines in Rías Baixas. This vineyard yields the eponymous cuvée that has become a defining expression of complex Albariño that can improve with age over a long period of time.

In 2015, Gerardo’s son Manuel Méndez took over as winemaker from his father, and daughter Encarna is in charge of the day-to-day operations of the winery. Since Gerardo’s children have been at the helm of the project, they've expanded the winery’s offerings to single-vineyard and single-soil-type wines.

Across the range, the wines display a distinct saline minerality and purity of fruit that showcases the terroir expressions from the various sites on the estate. The flagship Cepas Vellas is dense and structured, and one of the region's most age-worthy examples of the grape.