Our Winery
History
Mar de Frades, a Galician word meaning “Sea of Friars”, is the name given to the location opposite the ría Arousa, at the mouth of the river Umia, where the old pilgrims disembarked to continue their journey towards Santiago de Compostela.
That little spot in the ocean facing our vineyards was the space we chose in 1987 to create a bodega inspired by the style of the Atlantic, and born with the goal of creating wines that would reflect its personality and character.
Our history has always run parallel to that of the D.O. Rías Baixas, which emerged the following year. We were pioneers in the place that represents the deepest winegrowing traditions of the Val do Salnés, where the legend of Albariño begins and Spain’s most sophisticated and elegant white wines are produced.
Location
The Val do Salnés is located in Galicia, in the northwest of Spain. There, at the foot of the Valiñas Estate, on the side of a mountain facing the ría Arousa that cools the Atlantic breeze that caresses our vineyards, is where Mar de Frades wines are born.
The Mar de Frades bodega stands in the middle of this spot, with its slender grey figure of granite and copper, polished by the harsh Galician climate.
Vineyards
The vineyards in Rías Baixas are fragmented into thousands of small, disperse plots across the entire region. At Mar de Frades, we work and have a close relationship with over 150 winegrowers in the area.
Moreover, we have almost 60 hectares of vineyard on some of the best plots, making us one of the biggest vineyard owners in the region.
- 30 hectares of vineyard between the Val do Salnés and Ulla.
- 21 hectares on a new plot in the Val do Salnés.
- 7.8 hectares on the iconic Valiñas Estate vineyard.
The most noteworthy of these is our unique Valiñas Estate vineyard in Val do Salnés.
Valiñas Estate
An excellent paradigm of the Galician landscape, the 7 hectares that make up the Valiñas Estate vineyard lie upon terraces on the south face of the Valiñas mountain, offering breathtaking views of the ría and the Albariño vines coming up to receive the Atlantic breeze.
The soil on the estate is extremely poor, made up of decomposed granite and sand, which give our wines their mineral character, while its low yield allows us to concentrate the authentic essence of Mar de Frades.
Enologist
Paula Fandiño
Since she was very young, Paula’s passion has been the countryside and vines. Her winegrowing culture was passed down to her by her ancestors. Qualifying as a Technical Agricultural Engineer at the University of Santiago de Compostela, she is specialised in the branch of Agricultural and Food Industries, and is also an Agricultural Engineer, specialising in the fields of winegrowing and enology.
Under her direction, Mar de Frades has become one of Spain’s wineries of reference, and one of the most prestigious white wine brands in the sector, receiving multiple awards for both its wines and for Paula Fandiño herself, who in December of 2016 was named one of the most influential female enologists in Spain by the prestigious British magazine Drinks Business.
