Cave wine presses

Wine-making stones
The cave wine presses are one of the most fascinating vestiges of Galicia's wine-making history, especially because of their link with the second Iron Age (5th century BC to the year 0) and Romanisation (1st-5th century AD). In the Coto do Mouro area, in Taboexa, there are two cave presses linked to the Altamira Hillfort that made it possible to obtain must by treading grapes. These ancient presses carved into the rock are direct testimonies of the artisanal production of wine in antiquity and give us a glimpse of the importance that the culture associated with this alcoholic beverage had among the inhabitants of the Romanised hill forts and in the economic and cultural development of our country.

Distribution of the wine presses

The presence of cave wine presses in Galicia is concentrated in the areas with the longest winemaking tradition. The regions of Ribeiro, A Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei and Valdeorras are some of the enclaves where the greatest number of these ancient wine-making structures have been documented. The Condado region also forms part of the history of wine in Galicia. This region, nowadays famous for its Albariño wine, is home not only to the cave wine presses of Taboexa, but also to other small wine presses linked to forts and early medieval monasteries. This is the case of those documented in Queimadelos (Mondariz) or Guillade (Ponteareas). The rugged terrain of the area, with its terraces and sunny slopes, is ideal for growing vines.

Parts of a carve wine press

What are they?

Cave presses are structures excavated directly in natural granite outcrops that were used for treading the grapes and obtaining the must, a fundamental step in the production of wine. These constructions are usually found in places close to vineyards, in areas where the geographical conditions favour the cultivation of vines, often in high places where fog is scarce and on slopes with plenty of sunshine. In Galicia, these presses have distinctive characteristics that differentiate them from those found in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. They consist of one or more cavities carved in stone, generally granite, which include a platform where the grapes were placed to be trodden (the calcatorium) surrounded by a channel that conducts the liquid to a smaller cavity (the lacus) to collect the must obtained from the pressing.

Recreation of grape stomping in one of the Cave wine presses of Coto do Mouro.

Ideal reconstruction of a rustic Roman villa.

A Roman and early medieval legacy

The Roman influence on the viticulture of our region is not only evident in the existence of these wine presses, but also in the wine-making culture that endured over the centuries. After the fall of the Roman Empire, many of the winemaking techniques introduced by the Romans were maintained and adapted by the local communities. The abandonment of forts such as Altamira led to the transfer of winemaking to the villae rusticae or country villas, a rural residence dedicated to the production of agricultural and livestock products in which the owner (the dominus) also took up residence along with his family and servants. During the Middle Ages, wine production continued to be an essential activity in the rural economy of Galicia and the Condado region, firstly in the small early medieval rural convents (Guillade, Albeos, Riofrío, Angoares, etc.) and later in the large monasteries (A Franqueira and Melón), playing a fundamental role in the cultivation of vines and the improvement of winemaking techniques.

Detail of the mosaic of the grape stompers found in the House of the Amphitheater in Mérida.

Conclusions

The cave wine presses are a direct link to the history of Romanisation in Galicia and the legacy that this civilisation left on local viticulture. These archaic winemaking structures, scattered across the landscape around hill forts, Roman villas and early medieval monasteries, reveal a winemaking tradition that lasted for a millennium.

The wine presses of Coto do Mouro de Taboexa show that the roots of winemaking go back to the Iron Age and Romanisation, when the population lived in fortified forts or villages such as Altamira.

Nowadays, O Condado do Tea is a sub-area of the Rías Baixas DO. It occupies the municipalities on the right slope of the river Miño: Salvaterra de Miño, Arbo, As Neves, Crecente, Ponteareas, Salceda de Caselas and a part of Tui and Mos.