94+ pts Wine Advocate (Luis Gutiérrez)
"The 2024 Leirana, which represents the character of the Salnés Valley through different vineyards and locations in a fresh and Atlantic way, is the intro to the 2024 vintage, a year with good ripeness. The wine reached 13.4% alcohol, meaning full development of aromas and flavors, while keeping notable acidity and freshness, showcased by a pH of 3.23 and 7.8 grams of acidity. The nose is harmonious and young but quite expressive of freshly cut grass, flowers and sea breeze. The destemmed grapes were pressed, then the juice was left to settle and ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel (20%) and oak foudres, and then it matured for eight months. It has an intense and pungent palate with granite minerality, a fine thread of acidity going through its core and with a salty twist in the finish. This year, it has a little bit more of everything. It was bottled in June 2025, a mere few days before I tasted it, yet the wine felt relaxed. Drink: 2025-2032. (7/24/25)"

• 100% Albarino. Vines planted from 1952 - 1982. Tended in sandy and granite soil at 5 m (16 ft) elevation
• Naturally occurring fermentation with its own yeast. Aged in 80% stainless, 20% neutral foudre. No malolactic fermentation.
• Tiny 2,000 case production

Rías Baixas, in northwest Spain just above Portugal, hugging the Atlantic coastline is a breathtaking region.  The sub-region of Val do Salnes, the birthplace of Albariño, is no exception and where today's wine hails from.  Within the five unique subzones that fall under the D.O. Rías Baixas , Val do Salnes’ prime location is the coolest.  The soil here is pure granite with top layers of rocks and alluvial soil, perfect for a fresh Albariño expression.  

Bodegas Forjas
Rodrigo Mendez is a 5th generation winemaker from the tiny fishing village of Meaño in Val do Salnes, the most coastal of the subzones of DO Rias Baixas. Descended from the founding head of the DO of Rias Baixas, he is an astute historian of the history and heritage of this place, and makes wines to express and preserve this history and unique maritime terroir. He sources the parcels he farms through generational familial relationships, from families for whom winemaking is no longer their way of life. Indeed, his preservation of these historic vineyards is a vocation as much as it is a passion project – he feels compelled and bound to farm these parcels, because otherwise they would no longer exist. He makes wine in a way that harkens back to lost methods – painstaking work that eschews the tutti-frutti style that’s become the mainstream. Rather than allowing the wine to go through malolactic fermentation, Rodri lets his fruit hang longer than his neighbors in the appellation, allowing the natural weight and viscosity of the wine balance the searing acidity that this maritime zone produces. This approach is risky and requires expertise few can match, but the end result is a wine with weight that reflects the sea and the wind – unmistakably Salnes.