Winery · Ribeira Sacra

Ribeira Sacra Canyon Vineyards

Name: Ribeira Sacra Canyon Vineyards
Address: Ribeira Sacra, ES

UNESCO-worthy heroic viticulture: 1,200+ hectares of impossible terraces carved into Galician canyon walls where hand-harvesting happens 600m above sea level.

What to do there

AdventureRibeira Sacra Canyon VineyardsLocal legend credits the Romans with these terrace walls, but soil dating puts the oldest around the 10th century. Now Pedro Rodriguez — rebel winemaker at Guímaro, from a long line of winegrowers — hangs on harnesses to harvest Mencía from slopes as steep as 85%, lowering crates by rope and river boat because no machine can touch these angles. The average age of the people who still work these terraces is 80 years old. Kayak through the canyon and the vines are literally above your head. In 573 AD, six men carved a cave monastery into the rock of the Esgos woods; its church holds the only known Romanesque mural world map.