Bodegas Gerardo Méndez is a family winery located in Meaño in the Salnés Valley which forms part of the Rías Baixas wine region in Galicia. Gerardo Méndez Lázaro established the winery as a commercial enterprise in 1973 building on his family’s multigenerational winemaking tradition. Production focuses primarily on white wines made from Albariño which is the characteristic grape variety of this part of northwestern Spain. Gerardo Méndez was among the first fourteen winegrowers involved in establishing the Rías Baixas designation of origin in 1988. The winery’s principal range is called Do Ferreiro which refers to the blacksmithing trade once practised by the family. The family home and cellar stand on the Galiñanes estate surrounded by vineyards of different ages. Its most notable site is a historic plot containing vines more than two centuries old whose grapes are vinified separately for Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas. This wine has been released as an individual label since the 1995 vintage. Granite soils, proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the local climate contribute to the wines’ pronounced freshness, acidity and mineral character. Through its different labels the winery presents the characteristics of individual plots, varying vine ages and differences between vintages. Production includes manual harvesting, careful grape selection and controlled fermentation while certain wines are aged on their fine lees. A new generation of the Méndez family is now involved in the winery and continues its focus on Albariño and the distinctive growing conditions of the Salnés Valley.