Santiago Ruiz, `Rosa Ruiz` Rías Baixas Albariño

Known as “the father of Albariño”, Santiago Ruiz was a legendary figure in Galician wine, having played a key role in establishing the Rías Baixas DO in the 1980s. His contribution to the development of modern winemaking in the region (he was the first producer to use stainless steel tanks) led a street in San Miguel de Tabagón to be named after him. Today, winemaking at Santiago’s eponymous estate, in O Rosal, is led by Chema Ureta, continuing his legacy with a fresh vision rooted in family tradition and reflecting a Galician sense of place.

O Rosal is the most southerly of the five Rías Baixas sub-zones and enjoys more sunlight hours and lower rainfall than other subzones. Situated on the north bank of the river Miño, which marks the border with Portugal, the vines benefit from both cooling Atlantic breezes and the moderating influence and increased airflow from the river. Soils in O Rosal are predominantly sandy over granite bedrock, creating wines with an aromatic richness and characteristic wet-stone minerality.

Loureiro, a variety prized for its aromatic flavour profile, performs exceptionally well here, and wines labelled ‘O Rosal’ must include this grape in the blend. This distinguishes O Rosal’s wines from the majority of Rías Baixas’ made from 100% Albariño. The Santiago Ruiz vineyards cover 44 hectares, planted on south-facing slopes on the banks of the Miño. All their vineyards are sustainably farmed, with harvest carried out by hand, and the winery is part of the WETWINE project to cut waste by recycling and reusing resources to ensure the landscape is protected.

Santiago Ruiz’s ‘O Rosal’ is a blend of Albariño, Godello, Loureiro, Treixadura and Caíño Blanco. These varieties are all vinified separately in micro tanks, which Luisa affectionately calls ‘los niños’ (the children) and undergo a period of lees ageing before the final blend is assembled. The resulting wine is vibrant, with bright aromas of apple, apricot and ripe lemon coupled with subtle herbal notes and a stony minerality. The distinctive label is a map of the region, hand-drawn by Santiago’s daughter to guide guests travelling to her wedding, which took place at the winery.

The ‘Rosa Ruiz’ is made from 100% Albariño sourced from old, pergola-trained vines planted beside the old Santiago Ruiz winery (now a museum) in San Miguel de Tabagón. These old vines produce low yields of highly concentrated fruit, packed full of flavour. An extended pre-fermentation maceration, to extract maximum aromatics from the thick-skinned Albariño grapes, and five months of lees ageing following fermentation have resulted in a complex and textured wine with intense aromas of apricot and ripe lemon. This bottle also has a distinctive label, bearing a hand-drawn sketch based on an old photo of Santiago and his daughter, Rosa, standing on the balcony above the winery door.