MILA GALICIA, SPAIN

Rias Baixas is known as “land of a thousand rivers”. Mila is Basque for “thousand” and, though this isn’t the dominant language in Galician Rias Baixas, this beautiful word has such a presence as to become the “spirit of those thousand rivers; their granite beds, and powerful waters separating her vineyards”. The wine is produced by Pazo Pondal, a family winery founded in 1998. Their estate is located on the north bank of the Río Miño, in Arbo (Pontevedra), one of the best sub-regions for Rías Baixas D.O. Albariño. The estate includes 37 acres of trellised vineyards where they specialize and produce only white varietals – mainly Albariño. They are dedicated to sustainability and reviving the ancestral practices of their grandparents to achieve balance in the soils and in healthier plants. Their forefathers from Germany began the tradition of growing grapes, especially Albariño, in 1976, devoting a lifetime to viticulture and transmitting passion, respect and good practice to a whole generation of children and grandchildren. They started the conversion to organic viticulture in 2015.