In 2011, our wines were awarded the “Heroic Viticulture” seal by CERVIM, an international organisation dedicated to preserving the heritage of mountain viticulture, a practice found in only 5% of the world’s vineyards. This designation refers to the extreme terrain in which our winemakers cultivate the grapes that produce what are considered some of the best-renowned wines.
The vineyards are located on steep slopes descending directly to the River Sil, with height differences of up to 500 metres and gradients of up to 85%. These vineyards sprout year after year to produce the wine of Amandi. Some of the ancient vines were already cultivated in Roman times, when people defied vertigo while working on the stone-walled terraces known as socalcos to grow the grapes that produced the “liquid gold of the Sil”.
The terrain makes mechanisation impossible, so every task is carried out by hand including the harvest of every grapevine. Working between the vines demands near-acrobatic skills. The annual Amandi Wine Fair in Sober is where this great effort is celebrated, offering the opportunity to taste and reward the wines produced by our heroic vintners.
The creation of the Ribeira Sacra Designation of Origin marked the professionalization of the wine sector, leading to the restoration of the stone-walled terraced vineyards and the recovery of the landscape. Today, wine is a thriving and dynamic sector and one of the regions’ main economic drivers and a decisive factor in positioning the Ribeira Sacra as a tourist destination.
The beauty that surrounds this area is shaped by the fragrant breeze felt while walking among ferns and oaks, the sun rays that bless the days, the morning mists, the water of the Sil, which is the sacred heart of Amandi, and the countless streams that meander through the land in the wetter months.
Blood that becomes sap, sap that becomes wine. Wine, the fruit of labour, is to be shared or offered to family, friends and newcomers, and the finest calling card, for it is pure essence. An expression of the spirit and the ecosystem in which we inhabit, an earthly paradise.
A natural and cultural heritage that one day will be known to the world, and it is today a treasure discovered by wandering souls who choose to stay here…
(Eva Amaral, guest speaker at the 41st Amandi Wine Fair)
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