Soils

TERROIR

SOILS

In Gomariz we have 3 different types of soils in a relatively small zone, giving additional complexity to the style of the wines.
THE SOILS OF GOMARIZ AND THE VALLEY OF THE RIVER AVIA TELL THE STORY OF GEOLOGY THROUGHOUT GALICIA. WE CAN GENERALISE THE VARIATION INTO3 FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF SOILS:
  • The granitic sans and the sandy clay are a result of erosion of the granitic bowls, genesis of the Galician soils, for millions of years. The wines they produce are light, fresh and extraordinarily aromatic. In this type of soils and as we travel up to the Pena Corneira, there is a staggering of old alveoli that were split by the fluvial incision at the same time different blocks were raised. The soils are deeper here forming a small oasis in the middle of the countryside shaped by rocks. It is precisely this alternation of areas in which the alteration predominates with others in which rocky rocks predominate, which explains the fact that on the same slope there are subcalcos or terraces next to the smooth rock. This is related to the fact that to build a subcalco or terrace, it is necessary to have altered rock that, when mixed with organic matter, especially gorse, forms anthropic soils. The primordial role of the rock in the construction of the countryside also happens on the left-bank of the Avia, more so from Valdepereiro to Leiro. The sandy texture of the soils is in relation to the type of substrate.
  • Schists is a metamorphic rock that comes from the Paleozoic period. It’s a hard soil, the production per plant is low but the wines have a mineral character to them.
  • Clays come from sedimentary material, consequence of the formation of tertiary bowls in the Cenozoico period. From here, we get voluminous wines that are warming and intense.

They are, in general, shallow soils between 70 and 100cm and the content of organic material oscillates between 2 and 4% for the top soils and under 3% in the sub-soils.