Adega Ponte Da Boga SL

Cantina e Vini

The region known as the Ribeira Sacra comprises the land along the banks of the River Sil, and to a lesser extent the River Miño, at the point in the interior of Galicia where the two rivers connect. Before joining the Miño, the Sil flows along the frontier between the provinces of Lugo and Ourense through a deep canyon, creating this rare and impressive landscape that is the most characteristic feature of this part of Galicia. At the very dawn of Christianity, monks and hermits chose to settle here, at times in pastoral areas and sometimes in more dramatic settings, to live an abstinent life. As the years passed, these settlements gave rise to flourishing monasteries that spread art, culture and progress to the whole of Galicia. This is the origin of the name ‘Ribeira Sacra’ – the sacred shore – referred to in written texts dating back to the twelfth century. As a legacy of these 1,500 years, this part of Galicia has a rich heritage, full of castles, churches, country manors and bridges. Another of this region’s treasures are its wines, the perfect complement to its widely appreciated gastronomy, commercialised with the ‘Ribeira Sacra’ designation of origin. The Ponte da Boga Winery is located in Terra de Caldelas, an area with privileged varieties of wine with an ancestral history, as they were enjoyed by the Roman emperors. Its perfect orientation towards the sun, along the banks of the River Sil and with a climate marked by the effects of the canyon, with terraces that are still worked by hand, make this winery an enclave of unusual beauty.

It is impossible to correctly evaluate the wines from the Ribeira Sacra Designation of Origin without a detailed knowledge of the landscape in which they grow, and the special features involved in their production. Harvesting is perhaps the moment when we can see the most demanding side of the work of the wine growers, as they carry the grapes up the steep slopes of the canyons of the River Sil. This ‘heroic’ winegrowing offers excellent potential in terms of quality, but at the same time calls for major economic and human efforts. Seen from outside, this yearly pilgrimage of men and women laden with heavy baskets becomes an almost religious event due to the sacrifices involved in their work, and their faith that all their efforts will be worth it. In this land, harvesting combines the difficulty of the work itself and the added hardships imposed by the terrain. It is frequently possible to see harvesters hanging from harnesses, safe in the knowledge that their efforts will be compensated, or using small boats to cross the river, as the only way of reaching the vines. For all of these reasons, here the production of wine under these conditions is known as ‘heroic winemaking’. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and spectacular events in the whole of the Ribeira Sacra.