Dominio do Bibei Ribeira Sacra Lalama 2012

Dominio do Bibei is located in the Quiroga-Bibei sub zone of the Ribeira Sacra D.O. Like all Ribeira Sacra sub zones, this area is one of spectacular mountain ranges and following rivers, but it is drier and harsher than the others. Javier Dominguez is the brainchild of this crazy adventure to recapture a once grand vineyard.

Javier's vision of austerity and respect for the history of the land is reflected in the winery and its simple design. Gravity rules. There are no stainless steel tanks; wood or cement are the vehicles of choice and they come in all the different sizes. The idea is to return to the past to rediscover what was once here. The wine maker Laura Lorenzo has similar ideas. She follows many of the ideas of biodynamic viticulture to obtain the purest expression of this terruño.Planted on these terraces are old vines of Mencía, Garnacha, Brancellao and Mouraton. New plots are being planted using cuttings from these old vines so as to maintain clonal diversity in the vineyard. In addition to the red varietals, there are plantings of white grape varieties such as Doña Blanca, Godello and Albariño (the cuttings of this last grape being from Do Ferreiro). The sites vary greatly because of the orientation of the plots and the soil types. Because this is a transition zone which touches Valdeorras, you have soils of slate, granite and clay interspersed among the hillsides.