WATER AND WINE
Vineyards clinging to the steep banks
Vineyards clinging to the steep banks
In Ribeira Sacra, you’ll go from water to wine without needing a miracle… for over the years of human settlement along these riverbanks, people have carved out a truly astonishing water landscape.
Water has a profound impact on the river landscapes associated with the region’s two major rivers: the Miño and the Sil. The river courses of the Miño and Sil between Santa María de Pesqueiras, to the west, and San Clodio de Ribas de Sil, to the east, are particularly striking, with steep slopes on their banks up to the spot known locally as bocarribeira, where the gradient changes abruptly to give way to flatter terrain. Come discover the Water Landscape and the relationship between water and humanity, featuring elements such as mills, power plants, and other structures born of human ingenuity.
Vineyards grow on the hillsides, adapting to a terrain that is so rugged in many areas that the Ribeira Sacra Designation of Origin falls under the category of “Heroic Viticulture” (to which only 5% of the world’s vineyards belong). If you enjoy wine tourism, dozens of wineries—most of them family-run—offer the chance to discover this defining aspect of the region dating back to Roman times and to taste the excellent wine they produce using the Mencía, Brancellao, and Merenzao grape varieties for reds, and Godello, Albariño, and Treixadura for whites.
The viewpoints overlooking the vineyards and the Ribeira Sacra Wine Route are two highly recommended ways to experience this unique local culture.
Since 2018, Ribeira Sacra has been designated a Site of Cultural Interest in the cultural landscape category, and currently, Ribeira Sacra: Landscape of Water is a candidate for inclusion on the World Heritage List. Are you going to miss it?
And speaking of water, another defining feature of these landscapes is the waterfalls, or “fervenzas,” which are particularly abundant in the southeastern mountains and O Courel. Among the waterfalls you simply must see: the Portizó Waterfall (Sober), the Cachón Waterfall (A Teixeira), the 40-meter drop of the Aguacaída Waterfall (Marce, Pantón), the Fondós Waterfall (Erbedeiro, Carballedo), the Fervenza da Pedriña (Outeiro, Quiroga) and its smaller sister, the Pombar waterfall (Quiroga), the Fócaro waterfall (A Seara), the Gurbias waterfall (A Seara), the Vieiros waterfall (Quiroga), and the Dorelle or Casteligo waterfall (Chandreixa de Queixa).