Rodrigo Méndez of Bodegas Forjas del Salnés is the fifth generation of a legendary Galician family known for crafting quality wines for over three centuries. Today, Rodri is considered one of the greatest and most prolific Albariño producers in the world, making at least 18 different bottlings at his small winery established in the cradle of the Albariño grape itself: the Val do Salnés. This historic area is the most coastal subzone in the Rías Baixas winegrowing region.

In the vineyard, he takes an organic and low-intervention farming approach that is informed by common sense, with no treatments (except copper and sulfur) used in the vineyards unless there is a serious risk of a vine dying without an intervention. The soils include white clay and sandy soils with a lower pH, contributing volume and powdery minerality to the wines. Further inland, the granite soils give a concentrated, “vertical” sensation on the palate. Finally, in the mountainous zone, the poor, rocky soils make for stressed vines that are wiry and muscular, but with low yields.

Like many in the “New Spain” winegrowing movement, Rodri experiments with the methods his ancestors used prior to industrialization. Employing skin contact, foot-treading, extended lees contact with no batonnage, and working with different formats and sizes of aging vessels, are all part of his toolkit. His signature winemaking style is direct and unfussy. All his wines are fermented exclusively with indigenous yeasts. Nearly all the wines (except Leirana) are fermented in wooden vats without temperature control, then aged in large wooden vessels of varying sizes and shapes. All the white wines see significant lees contact, with no malolactic fermentation, and minimal sulfur applied at bottling. The reds are fresh, elegant and have livelier floral and fruit aromas with more initial complexity than the whites, thanks to their slow elevage in large, used barrels.