2020 Telmo Rodriguez Branco de Santa Cruz

The Branco de Santa Cruz is a beautiful white wine from Telmo which is made in small quantities. This is a unique blend coming from some old vineyards in Santa Cruz, where the winery is located on the banks of the Bibei River, opposite the Ribeira Sacra appellation on the other side of the river. As with all old vineyards there is a multitude of grape varieties blended in the field: Godello, Treixadura, Doña Blanca, Palomino. The Santa Cruz Branco fermented in 600 liter barrels and foudres with indigenous yeasts, where it matured for about 10 to 12 months before bottling. With some time in the glass, this great sparse white wine reveals yellow flowers, chamomile, fennel and anise apple. The taste is medium-bodied with great freshness and acidity with a slight bitterness in the aftertaste. The Santa Cruz is a wonderful but very scarce white wine of which only around 2500-3000 bottles are (can) be made per year. Galicia at its best:

ABOUT TELMO RODRIGUEZ

Winemaker Telmo Rodríguez is a phenomenon within the Spanish wine world. He studied at the University of Bordeaux and later in the Rhône with the famous August Clape. He was the winemaker of La Granja Senora De Remelluri, his father's bodega in Rioja. He left there to make what some call his own wines in various regions of Spain. Telmo lives in Madrid and drives by car to the various projects where he makes wine. In a short time his wines have found a place on the international playing field. One example: in Tom Stevenson's Wine Report, Telmo is already included in the top 10 producers from Spain. A characteristic of Telmo is that it chooses indigenous grape varieties, which are also pruned in an indigenous way. This means that it only works with 'bush vines' or vines that are not guided along wires, but grow as independent shrubs. The bushes are also further apart than with wire guidance. This has two advantages in warm Spain: every shrub finds sufficient moisture, even in dry vintages, and the clusters hang in the shade of their own leaves, so that they are less 'stewed'. Telmo likes to work with old canes, so that the roots are deep to find moisture. It also benefits the quality of the grapes. Old sticks give a lower yield, but are of high quality and complexity. Although not formally certified, Telmo works organically: it does not use artificial fertilizers or insecticides/pesticides.