Fillaboa Wineries, part of Masaveu Wineries, gathered a select group of guests in Madrid to present and taste three wines produced at its winery in the DO Rías Baixas: Fillaboa 2018, Fillaboa Selección Finca Monte Alto 2017, and La Fillaboa 1898. During the event, guests were able to enjoy the quality and distinctiveness of these Albariños, which have been honored with prestigious awards — such as La Fillaboa 1898, winner of the Best in Show accolade at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA). This is the highest distinction awarded by the most influential wine competition in the world.
The guests, in addition to tasting the wines, listened to the insights of Isabel Salgado, the winemaker at the Galician winery for over 20 years. During her speech, Salgado highlighted the unique qualities of these wines, which showcase Albariño at the highest level of quality. The event, which concluded with a cocktail, was presided over by José Masaveu Herrero, the general director of the wine group. He stated, “These wines are a clear example and the purest demonstration that well-crafted and well-cared-for Albariños can become wines with remarkable aging potential and extraordinary longevity.”
La Fillaboa 1898, which scored 97 points in the 16th edition of the DWWA, is an exclusive wine from the 2010 vintage. It comes from the best grapes from eight plots and has undergone eight years of aging on fine lees, which gives this Albariño a remarkable volume and roundness on the palate, rarely found in this type of wine. In addition, it preserves the freshness of young Albariños while enhancing the complexity and elegance of great white wines. This wine recalls the 19th century, when a wine called “Vino del Condado de Fillaboa” was already being shipped by boat from the estate located in the Condado de Tea area of Rías Baixas, near Portugal, to Cuba. In honor of those historic journeys, José Masaveu decided in 2017 to launch a wine, crafted by Isabel Salgado, that had been aging on its lees since 2010. Since that year, Fillaboa has released and bottled 3,500 bottles annually.
For its part, Fillaboa Selección Finca Monte Alto 2017 comes from Monte Alto, one of Fillaboa’s most iconic vineyard plots. The wine is made in the traditional way, using selected native yeasts and keeping the wine on its fine lees for 12 months in stainless steel tanks. Fillaboa Selección Finca Monte Alto 2017 is a great Albariño wine with enormous aging potential — aromatic, honest, and fresh, yet structured and complex.
In the case of Fillaboa 2018, we are presented with a harmonious white wine with good structure. Its fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at a low temperature, with the wine remaining on its fine lees until bottling.
Fillaboa Wineries
Fillaboa is a historic manor whose estate has remained undivided over the centuries, being one of the largest, most beautiful, and oldest estates in Galicia, and the only one that, due to its special characteristics, belongs to Grandes Pagos de España. Behind the 1,600 meters of the thick stone wall that protects the property, in addition to the vineyards, lie the winery and a spectacular reconstructed stately manor.
54 hectares of Albariño grape vineyards planted on rolling slopes make up the Fillaboa estate, which spans a total of 74 hectares spread across 12 plots on the natural border with Portugal, alongside the Tea and Miño rivers. The rich soils and the Atlantic climate, with mild temperatures due to the proximity to the sea, make Fillaboa a privileged place for the cultivation of the native Albariño grape.
Masaveu Wineries
The Masaveu family began investing in the wine sector in 1974, when they acquired Bodegas Murua, but the family’s vineyard plantings date back to the mid-19th century, specifically in Castellar del Vallés, the family’s place of origin, where Federico Masaveu Rivell laid the foundations that his descendants would continue a century later. Since then, Masaveu Wineries has continued to grow, becoming a benchmark in the wine sector thanks to the quality of its winemaking across different Designations of Origin (DOs), as well as its environmental philosophy and deep respect for the land. Owning its own vineyards allows the group to capture and express the unique personality of each terroir in every bottle. In this way, all of Masaveu Bodegas’ projects across different parts and regions of the country are united under a common purpose: Murua (DOCa Rioja), Fillaboa (DO Rías Baixas), Pagos de Araiz (DO Navarra), Leda (Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León), and Valverán (Asturias).
