WINERY REVIEW: MAR DE FRADES The winery Since 1987, Mar de Frades has worked hard to bring wine lovers singular wines with a unique personality and a capacity for surprise. Today it is one of the most sought after brands of white wine in Spain, offering a Premium innovative quality product. Mar de Frades was launched in 1987, with its history running parallel to the RIAS BAIXAS Designation of Origin, and is a pioneering winery in the region, representing the deeprooted tradition of wine-making in the Salnés Valley; the historic capital of Albariño. This is the very place where the legend of this grape variety began and where the most sophisticated and most select white wines in Spain are produced. Mar de Frades, a term from Galego, the language of Galicia, meaning Sea of Friars, is also the name given to a place near the Ría de Arosa, at the mouth of the Umia river, where a long time ago pilgrims would disembark and continue on their journey towards Santiago de Compostela. Mar de Frades is located at the foot of the Finca Valiñas vineyard, on a hillside at the heart of the Salnés Valley, facing the Ría de Arousa estuary which tempers the Atlantic breeze caressing this magical place. The Mar de Frades winery rises up from amidst this landscape, with its grey svelte granite and copper figure, weathered by the elements of the Galician climate. Because we are not like others, we yearn for something different, something unique, that can define what you are. Someone special, who knows what they want and fears nothing. A way of understanding and living life, different to others. Mar de Frades. Made of Atlantic. Unconquerable.

The enologist Paula Fandiño felt passionately about the countryside and the vineyards. Her background in wine comes directly from her ancestors. She graduated as an Agricultural Engineer at the University of Santiago de Compostela, specializing in the field of the Farming and Food Industry and she is also an Agronomy Engineer, specializing in the field of viticulture and enology. Since she took over, Mar de Frades has become one of the leading wineries in Spain and one of the most prestigious white wine brands in the sector. Her work has been recognized with her receiving several awards both for her wines and for Paula Fandiño herself, being named among the top ten most influential enologists in Spain in December 2016 by the prestigious British magazine Drinks Business. Currently mar de Frades offers just 4 wines, each of them unique and very special. Their Albarino is the most widely known as it is how the winery started. A crisp fresh, mineral wine that is easy to pair with oysters, seafood, white food, but also with secreto iberico and many other dishes. The perfect expression of the Albariño grape. A wine with a saline character which seduces with its fresh complex nature. Unique Atlantic aromas straight from the ocean adding complexity and acidity. Finca Valinas is made from only the most select grapes from the Finca Valiñas vineyard and is destined to become one of the great Spanish white wines. One of the most elegant and sophisticated Spanish white wines.

The grapes are selected from the Finca Valiñas vineyard, next to the Mar de Frades winery, facing the Ría de Arousa. Aged on its own lees and 6 months in new French oak barrels. Brut nature is the first Sparking wine produced with 100% Albariño grapes using the traditional méthode champenoise. Surprising saline character coming from its fine elegant bubbles. The new addition to the range is mar de Frades Godello. Its Atlantic Character combine its elegant structure with a delicate expression, a unique wine with enormous complexity. Paula