types of grapes

The grapes used in Galicia to make wine are many and varied, from the autochthonous grapes to those authorised by the different designations of origin. Thus, all kinds of wines can be obtained in our community, from whites to toasted sweet wines, including young reds, aged reds, rosés and, for some years now, sparkling wines, for which the albariño variety is preferably used.

However, it is not only these varieties that are included in the protected geographical indications, nor are they the only ones authorised by the Ministry of Agriculture to be used in wines. In the case of white grapes, for example, we can find the Branco lexítimo, which is known in Barbanza by the name of Raposo. This grape, cultivated to a lesser extent than its “big” sister Albariño, is not a recent discovery, as it was catalogued in 1914 by Nicolás García de los Salmones, and, nevertheless, its fame and use have increased in recent years.

This story is repeated with other varieties, known for years, but which are now experiencing a second youth, such as the Torrontés variety (the second most elaborated white variety in Ribeiro), the Caiño Blanco (also in Ribeiro, but in smaller proportions), the Dona Branca (elaborated mainly in Valdeorras), the Agudelo (typical of Betanzos and which coincides with the French Chenin Blanc) or the Loureira (the fifth in proportion of cultivation in Ribeiro).