José Luis Mateo is a cult but discreet winemaker on the edge of Galicia. It all started for him by chance: his brother ran a bar in Verín, the most important town in the DO Monterrei, and he needed a wine that was affordable to serve his customers. José Luis set to work and produced a kind of clairet for him, a very pale red. But in the process he had acquired a taste for winemaking and soon wanted to do more and better! So in 1991 he started the Quinta da Muradella project. From the outset, his philosophy was to safeguard the old grape varieties of the region, which had almost disappeared, and to bring them back into favour. Plot by plot, he set about restoring his vineyards using organic methods and even biodynamic principles. Today, José Luis cultivates 24 ha on 34 plots.