Vina Nora
Visitor Tasting Room
About
Viña Nora is located in the heart of Condado do Tea, bordering Portugal. Condado do Tea is the only inland sub-region out of the five Rías Baixas sub-regions. This unique location is noted for its granite and stone soils and less rainfall than the region's average. These features favor an early maturation of the grapes, resulting in wines with characteristic expression of Albariño and the terroir.
Viña Nora owns 39.5 acres of vines that grow in a mix of washed and decomposed granite and stone soils, which regulates the day's heat. The vines can avoid excessive humidity during the night and favor a better maturation. The winery also supervises about 100 small winegrowers who grow grapes throughout Condado do Tea, Val do Salnés and Ribeira do Ulla and provide Viña Nora with their grapes.
Viña Nora has vines of an average age of 25 years, which are are located on the natural terraces of the cliffs looking out on Miño River. The terroir and location requires manual harvesting.
The vines are grown on trellises, a common growing technique of the Rías Baixas region, reaching 6.5 feet high. The height helps protect the grapes from the soil's humidity and fungal diseases, and favors a complete maturity of the grapes with the great exposure to the sun.
THE WINERY
The winery is surrounded by Albariño vines, which grow down the slopes that descend towards the river and face the sun.
Viña Nora's goal is to make authentic Albariño wines from Rías Baixas. With this objective the winery relies on the best technology, including small containers where microvinification is carried out to individually manage the characteristics of unique plots of land.
WINEMAKING
The personality of the wines is determined by careful vineyard-monitoring and appropriate maturation of the grapes.
Manual harvest occurs using 35.2lb boxes. The grapes arrive to the selection table after cooling in a chamber at 39.2°F. All of the pressing, clearing and fermentation processes are very meticulous, with the aim of maintaining the subtle aromas and fragility of the Albariño variety.
Only neutral yeasts are used, which help maintain the varietal characteristics of the wines that result from the region's unique climate and soil.
Nora da Neve is barrel-fermented following the Burgundian method in 600 and 225-liter French oak barrels with subtle char. A batonnage is carried out for 5 months, which gives body and complexity to the wine without affecting the variety's subtle nature.