Heroic Viticulture: Laura Lorenzo's mission to save a piece of Ribeira Sacra

The best winemakers all share in a few specific traits - they all tend to be hard workers, stubborn, and steadfast in their vision. Even so, not many can touch the tenacity and purpose that fuels Laura Lorenzo. She’s next level.

Tucked away in the quiet village of Manzaneda in the Quiroga-Bibei sub zone of Ribeira Sacra, where we quite literally only saw one elderly man poke his head out (no doubt checking in on all the ruckus), this young woman is leading the charge in her attempt to salvage history through winemaking.

This sounds heroic, and it is. True heroism is fighting a battle no one sees you fight - a match that rarely gets praise or recognition. Yet, you know it must be done. And so you wake each morning, and you do what you can.

It is rare that we ever get to sing Laura's praises. These wines are typically spoken for before they land. But luck has it that we have several in stock from the 2019 vintage.

Born in Ourense (Ribeiro), Laura was always drawn to the vines. She began winemaking in high school, then traveled the world to shape this craft. It really wasn’t until she had the opportunity to work among the vines working for Dominio do Bibei for ten years that she discovered her passion and purpose - rescuing old, abandoned vineyards.

See, over the centuries, these vineyards were divided (and subdivided and subdivided and… you get it) until eventually families held a fraction so small and seemingly insignificant, they were hardly economical to maintain. Laura saw an opportunity to farm them herself and identify the many indigenous grapes among them. She along with Alvaro Dominguez formed Daterra Viticultores in 2014 with a mission to restore these 80-120+ year old vines and rescue these grapes from extinction (or worse yet - characterless bulk production).

To pull a beautiful quote captured by Chambers Street, Laura says of Daterra that it is, "a tribute to the wine growers who put their vineyards in my hands. The relationship with the vineyard is different from that established with other crops. With the vineyard, family history is relived and for that reason it is the last thing the farmers leave because they know that, if they do, it's over."

Laura is primarily based in the hills of Quiroga-Bibei, though she sources fruit throughout Ribeira Sacra as well as Valdeorras and even on the border of Portugal in Arribes del Duero. It the driest and warmest of the Ribeira Sacra sub-zones. Their granite, schist, and shale-laden soils have a touch more clay. The slopes are dramatic, rising up from the Bibei, Jares, and Navea rivers. The vineyards are so silent - holding in secrets from the past couple thousand years, when they were first established by gold-seeking Romans.

Laura occupies a quaint, old house, really — formerly a doctor’s home — where she spins magic from grapes into wine, unfettered or fussed over. No clarification, no cold stabilisation, no filtering. She took us to what felt like the edge of earth, as we looked out onto centenarian vines she was slowly bringing back to life with love… and painstakingly hard work. Tractors could never be possible on these steep, slatey slopes in Bibei. Squat, burly vines filled the landscape with grapes that have only been partly identified, though Mencia triumphs here as it does throughout the rest of Ribeira Sacra.

These wines always have an almost primal character to them - saline, iron, and animal notes. Deep minerality. Calming chamomile and white peach on the whites. Heightened violet floral notes and deep woodsy fruit for for the reds. They are energetic and alive. It’s such a rare treat to have a handful of so many in stock!

Laura Lorenzo Gavela de Vila White 2019 - 100% 80-120 year old Palomino on sandy granite at 400-720m, Val do Bibei

Laura Lorenzo Azos de Vila 2019 - ungrafted field blend of 80+ year old Mouraton, Mencia, Garnacha Tintorera, etc on granite and schist at 400-720m, Val do Bibei

Laura Lorenzo Azos de Pobo 2019 (6 x 750ml) - 50% Gran Negra and Garnacha Tintorera with balance of field blend on steep granite and schist at 500m, Val do Bibei

Laura Lorenzo/ Daterra 'Portelo do Vento' Tinto 2019 - south facing granitic sand slopes, 50+ year old Mencia and Garnacha Tintorera, Amandi and Bibei

Laura Lorenzo Casas de Enriba 2019 - 100% estate Mencia (younger 25 years), south facing, granite with mixed soils, 500m, Valdeorras

Laura Lorenzo / Daterra 'Camino de la Frontera' Tinto 2019 - 100-130 year old Mouraton (Juan Garcia) and Tinta Madrid (Tempranillo), northfacing slopes, parcel located within a national park in the Duero river valley bordering Portugal

Laura Lorenzo / Daterra 'Camino de la Frontera' BLANCO 2019  - Malvasia, Verdejo, and native Puesta en Cruz, northwest facing, nested in a national park in the Duero river valley bordering Portugal 

Laura Lorenzo / Daterra 'Portelo do Vento' Blanco 2019 - 90% Palomino and a smattering of other local varieties from Amanda and Bibei, skin contact for texture not color