Ribeira Sacra's steep terraced vineyards are some of the most picturesque and treacherous to work in the world of wine.  Pedro Rodríguez of Guímaro, hails from a family of farmers and viticulturists. Before 1991, Pedro's family produced small quantities of wine for their consumption and sold their wines to local cantinas.  They named their winery Guímaro, which means "rebel" in Gallego, a nickname of Pedro's grandfather. Guímaro was one of the first wineries to join the appellation in 1996. Winemaker Raúl Pérez of Bierzo helped Pedro see his old vine holdings' potential to produce profoundly expressive and age-worthy single plot wines. This led to significant improvements in the vineyard, such as reducing yields, eliminating chemicals in the vineyards, and paying attention to individual different plots' expositions.  By reclaiming old-fashioned winemaking methods like wild yeast fermentation, foot treading in open-top vessels, stems inclusion, working with low sulfur, and aging in used barrels. This approach gives Guímaro some of the most distinctive and age-worthy wines being produced today on the "Sacred Banks." Pedro is underway to organic certification and is reclaiming indigenous varietals' role in the area.

Guímaro wines