Why it matters
The producer
Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez is co-owned by winemaker friends Telmo Rodríguez and Pablo Eguzkiza. Their partnership grew from a first old-vine Garnacha wine into a network of local growers, historic vineyards and regional projects. Working with growers in each area lets them learn local traditions and preserve wines that belong to the place where the grapes grow.
The cellar follows the same direction. Soil and landscape come before a fixed house style, while different fermentation and ageing vessels soften the winemakers’ imprint. The choice keeps the bottle connected to its vineyard source, whether the wine comes from a steep Valdeorras terrace, an old mixed vineyard in Ourense or bush vines in Rioja.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The company’s headquarters are in Lanciego, Álava, where its Rioja grapes come from the Lanciego area except Las Beatas. Its Galician work centres on Santa Cruz in Ourense, beside the Sil River. Rodríguez describes the landscape through contrasts: northern exposures can feel almost Scottish, while southern slopes recall the dry conditions of Teruel. Those changes in exposure and elevation alter ripeness, acidity and the balance between red, white and mixed-variety wines.
Valdeorras adds steep terraces and traditional field blends to the range. The vineyard work follows the land’s existing shape, so a Valdeorras bottle carries a different combination of grape material, altitude and texture from a Garnacha wine in Navarra or a named white vineyard in Ourense.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The portfolio’s approximately 80 hectares are spread across 355 small parcels and include 43 native grape varieties. Local growers provide knowledge of each area and its traditional wines, while bush-vine farming keeps the vineyards unirrigated and free from trellising. In Valdeorras, steep terraces preserve traditional field blends, allowing several local varieties to arrive together in the same regional wine.
The cellar uses more than one kind of fermentation and ageing vessel, so the material of the container does not impose one flavour across every bottle. Gaba do Xil O Barreiro uses Godello and other local varieties, indigenous yeasts and several months on its lees. For the 2024 vintage, the wine spent four months on lees in stainless steel and did not undergo malolactic fermentation, combining lees texture with a direct stainless-steel profile.
Wines to know
The range in view
Alma is the beginning of the range: old Garnacha from Sada in Navarra, a village-based red that records where the partnership started. Gaba do Xil Mencía comes from Valdeorras and connects a red grape with steep terraced vineyards and preserved field blends. The 2020 wine carries red fruit, granite, herbs, floral fragrance, smoke and meat, with gentle fruit tannin through the finish.
As Caborcas is a wine from an old, mixed vineyard, where varieties, vine ages, elevations and orientations share one site. A Falcoeira A Capilla comes from the historic vineyard replanted at Santa Cruz and occupies a different range position, as a named vineyard wine recovered through long-term work. Gaba do Xil O Barreiro is the white counterpart, a vineyard-designated wine from estate-grown O Barreiro fruit, made with Godello and other local varieties, indigenous yeasts and lees maturation.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Gaba do Xil O Barreiro. Since 2021, it has been made entirely from estate-grown fruit selected from the named O Barreiro vineyard, using Godello and other local varieties, indigenous yeasts and several months on its lees. The 2024 vintage adds four months in stainless steel without malolactic fermentation. In the glass, lees maturation supplies breadth, while the stainless-steel élevage and acidity keep the finish clear and direct. One bottle brings together named place, local grapes, native fermentation and the company’s preference for letting vineyard character lead the cellar work.