Vino Tinto-en Archives - Hispanobodegas

Montepedriza 2019, new wine

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- Individuality, a sense of place and a loyal reflection of the countryside are the defining characteristics of the unique wine range from the Riojan winery.
- 100% Garnacha, Montepedriza comes from a unique estate in the village of Tudelilla.
Bodegas Valdelacierva is proud to present the first of its Unique Vineyard wines: Montepedriza 2019. This Garnacha-based wine comes from a unique estate in the village of Tudelilla, and has been included in the ¨Single Vineyard¨ category by the Rioja appellation’s Regulatory Council, a classification which places value on vineyard sites, or terroirs, which lend essential qualities to the wines and which helps them stand out from those around them. Montepedriza 2019 is just such a wine; a wine full of character which doesn’t just reflect the rigorous selection criteria which Valdelacierva use when they select the estates they work with, but also the winemaking and ageing processes used by the winery which respect the true character of a unique vineyard and allow it to express itself to the full.

Montepedriza, the vineyard and the wine

100% Garnacha, Montepedriza 2019, transmits authenticity and care for the land, and all the delicacy of handmade luxury. It is an artisanal wine, reflecting the unique characteristics of the estate, and by necessity production is limited.

The Montepedriza estate, in Tudelilla (in Rioja Oriental or Eastern Rioja), has organically poor soils covered with stones. The high drainage capacity of these soils allows the vine’s roots to penetrate deeply into the ground, which is especially beneficial for the development of the vine, and especially for the Garnacha variety. The vineyard, balanced and of limited intensity in terms of growth, was planted in 1935 and gives quite low yields in the region of 2,400 kg per hectare (less than half the maximum yield permitted by DOCa Rioja’s Regulatory Council.

All these characteristics, coupled with Valdelacierva’s very careful and painstaking approach when making Montepedriza, ensures an excellent Garnacha-based red wine from Rioja at the end of the process.

Harvest is manual (this 2019 vintage took place during the first week in October), with the grape bunches collected in boxes and transported to the winery in a chilled lorry. Vinification takes place in 700 litre, open-topped wooden tinos or vats; while ageing is carried out in 500 litre French oak casks and lasts 15 months. Finally, the wine then spends a further 15 months in bottle before it leaves the winery.

Tasting Montepedriza 2019

The wine is an intense and brilliant ruby red. Complex and very intense aromas on the nose, particularly floral notes and dark fruit. A swirl in the glass to aerate the wine and the wine gives off more herbal notes of thyme, fennel and other wild, aromatic mountainside plants. The wood is well integrated, blending subtly into the background with toasted aromas, cocoa and black pepper. Long on the palate, the wine has pronounced tannins which are nicely rounded and velvety smooth. Strong, vertical attack, with marked acidity, pleasing texture and a lasting finish.

The Unique Vineyards of Valdelacierva

In the words of Emma Villajos, Enologist at Valdelacierva: “uniqueness is a broad concept, which each person interprets in a slightly different way. In our winery, we have been working for many years with rigorous set of guiding principles which put the focus firmly on the quality and uniqueness of the wines.¨ A professional bursting with curiosity, and a dynamic personality, Emma adds ¨we preferred to present the wines from these single vineyard sites as ¨Unique Vineyards¨ because we want to continue on the same path we have been treading, and structure the range of wines according to our own quality standards and the demands and goals that we have set ourselves.¨

For Emma Villajos, enologist and alma mater of Bodegas Valdelacierva, this approach to winemaking is not new, and for several vintages now she has been in charge of caring for and overseeing the work on all the plots for the winery’s wines. In fact, this professional has simply continued her approach to winemaking with the same passion, the same rigorous focus on quality, and a loyalty to the land and the individual characteristics of both the estate and the grape variety and its terroir.

“It’s about choosing your own, unique path, in the search for the highest quality and uniqueness”.

About Bodegas Valdelacierva

Valdelacierva is more than just a winery. For several years now, the wealth, authenticity and personal character of each of its vines has been written into its wines’ DNA. Briñas, Baños de Ebro, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Tudelilla….these are some of the most important areas where the winery’s vineyards are located (it is one of the Riojan wineries with the highest number of registered Single Vineyard (Viñedo Singular) sites. Passion and respect for a careful and methodical approach to winemaking and terroir ensures that excellence is not just measured in terms of results, but forms an intrinsic part of the approach at Valdelacierva.
Wine-grower’s Diary

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In this new series, we’ll show you life in the vineyard month-by-month in one of the viticultural jewels of Rioja Oriental where Garnacha takes on a personality all of its own.

Bodegas Valdelacierva is the Riojan project of the Hispanobodegas winery group. Although its base is in the heart of the Rioja Alta sub-zone (Navarrete), the passion and non-conformist approach which guides the winery’s technical team took them further a field, and led them to a parcel of very old Garnacha in the village of Tudelilla (photo 3): a jewel in the middle of Rioja Oriental, planted 86 years ago and tended with wisdom and care by the rough, hardened hands of José Luis Sáenz (photo 2), owner of the vineyard. The name itself, Montepedriza, gives us a good idea of the structure of its stony soil (photo 4). An organically poor soil which forces the well-trained roots to dig deep for nourishment and confers on the fruit its unique character.

We’ll discover more about the work in the vineyard over the next few months. The privilege of learning firsthand from Fernando Ligero (photo 1), head of viticulture at Hispanobodegas, how a vineyard of these characteristics is farmed, will help us appreciate the true value of the wine it produces. We’ll appreciate the effort needed to tend each vine individually, and transport the essence of its exquisite fruit to the winery. Once there, it’s for Emma Villajos (photo 2), the group’s head winemaker, to capture the spirit of this uniquely suggestive Riojan Garnacha in the final wine.

We’d encourage you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to follow the evolution of such a prestigious vineyard. As well as the day-to-day tasks, you’ll see how more unexpected challenges are dealt with through the calm patience of an experienced and confident winegrower.

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Parcel name: Montepedriza

Vines: 86 years old

Grape variety: Garnacha

Soil type: Sandy loam with a generous covering of stones

Training system: Bush vines

Vine density: 3,000 plants/Ha

Altitude: 625 metres above sea level

Parcel size: 0.92 Ha

March rainfall: Historic average: 44.03 litres/m2; 2021: 14 litres/m2

March temperature: Historic average: 10.15 ºC; 2021: 8.8 ºC

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February 2021

On 18 February – accompanied as ever by our dog Luka (photo 5), who loves the countryside at Montepedriza and enjoys running up and down the rows – we pruned the vines. The weather was perfect, with an average temperature around 15ºC and relative humidity of 48%, which helps stave off the much-feared wood diseases caused by various types of fungi. Our approach is to leave one spur per arm and two visible buds. In this way we are able to control the amount of fruit the plant produces and achieve an optimum distribution of clusters, all of which helps the grapes to ripen uniformly.

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March 2021

At the end of March, taking advantage of the 10 litres of rain that fell the previous week, we decided to till the soil and add a little organic fertilizer to compensate for the nutrients the plant extracted from the soil in the previous growing season. In this way, we leave the vine prepared and the row grass-free ready for budbreak. Of course, our vines are farmed 100% organically, so when we work the soil we alternate between using the in-row cultivator and cutting back the natural ground cover, depending on the time of year and rainfall. As always happens when we are in Montepedriza, we had to wait for Luka who had gone off on a jaunt into some neighbouring vineyards! Fortunately for us, we had a bottle of our Garnacha to hand…
The importance of choosing when to prune

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we´re sharpening our shears for one of our most important pruning operations: the old vines in Soria which we use for our top wine, 12 Linajes.

With the plant in a dormant state, now is when we start our winter pruning which will shape production for the next harvest. This year we´ve enjoyed a fantastic winter from a viticultural perspective, with low temperatures keeping pests and fungi in the vines to a minimum.

At the pruning stage, we also take into account other factors to ensure an optimum result. Weather, for example – it´s important to avoid pruning when it´s foggy, raining, or on days with high relative humidity. A lot of vine diseases are transmitted via wounds caused during pruning, and days with high relative humidity make it easier for fungi to enter the vine´s woody tissue via these wounds. The position of the vineyard and its orography is also important. The colder areas of the vineyard are normally pruned at the end of the winter in order to delay budbreak and avoid frosts which, as we know well, can have a disproportionate impact on young vines as opposed to old, and can have a greater impact on more early-ripening varieties.

All this knowledge and vineyard know-how really comes to the fore when you know your vineyard inside out and you look after it with care and dedication. The results are the best grapes which give the best wines, in our case 12 Linajes.

Cheers!
Snow in the vineyard

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This week, Rioja was covered in a blanket of snow, including many vineyards. How does snow help the vines?

The vegetative state of the plant means the vine´s bark can offer shelter to insects and fungi. The combination of cold and snow helps to eliminate them so that when the plant begins to bud again it´s in a perfect state of health.

What are the main benefits of these snowfalls?

Hydrological: snow falls gradually and melts gradually, which means the ground slowly absorbs all the moisture and can use it more effectively;

Cleansing: snow and ice kills insects and fungi and the plant is cleansed;

Healing: during the pruning stage, the scarring left on the plant can be an entry point for disease, but low temperatures and snow help to create a layer of scar tissue on the plant which prevents disease getting in.

So, fingers crossed the old saying comes true: ¨Year of snows, year of plenty.¨
The unique vineyards of Valdelacierva

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The unique vineyards of Valdelacierva

Enrique Calduch, Madrid

In a few days, the wines from the Unique Vineyards of the Riojan winery Valdelacierva go on the market. They are the result of the zoning process launched by the Regulatory Council of DOCa Rioja a few years ago . This allowed that, in addition to the three historical areas of Rioja Alta, Alavesa and Oriental, wines from individual areas and villages with recognisable and definable characteristics might also be specifically highlighted. At the top of the quality pyramid, the highest level of recognition is enjoyed by the Viñedos Singulares, or Single Vineyard category, usually small plots that, due to their soil conditions, orientation, limited production, old vines, or manual harvesting… are in some way special.

Many Rioja producers set out to identify these vineyards so that they could certify them with the Regulatory Council and start bottling specific wines from them. In many cases, in a large vineyard it was possible to identify some smaller individual plots that met the required conditions.

This is the case of Valdelacierva. For many years the winery has been committed to producing premium wines with greater added value, and it was logical that it should figure in the Viñedos Singulares category at the top of the pyramid. In this case through its Viñedos Únicos wines, which include Valdelacierva Monte Pedriza 2019, 100% Garnacha, and Canto Gordo 2018, made with Tempranillo, both of which will reach the market in March. The winery also has two high-end vineyards, although they are not formally included in the Viñedos Singulares category, which produce the Valdelacierva Garnacha 2018, and the Special Edition 2017 which is an equal blend of Maturana, Garnacha and Tempranillo varieties. This wine will be released a little later in the year as the house winemaker, Emma Villajos, wants the wine to spend a couple more months in bottle for a more rounded finish.

This young woman, an experienced winemaker with a long pedigree, is one of the winery’s strongest assets. Normally the best Rioja vineyards are in the hands of lifelong winegrowers, who earn their living from their vines and are very reluctant to sell them, hence the only solution is to form partnerships. Long-term contracts and paying dearly for the best grapes. Villajos selects the vineyards and special plots she wants to work with, negotiates an agreement, and then makes the wines. A sound and effective approach that has led to her current role as winemaking supervisor for the entire Hispanobodegas group, of which Valdelacierva forms a part, and which includes two other wineries: one, Viñedos y Bodegas Gormaz, at the Sorian end of Ribera del Duero and another, Garcigrande, in Rueda.

But Valdelacierva is the group’s flagship project, and it is able to source fruit from several plots in Rioja Alavesa, specifically from San Vicente de la Sonsierra, and also from Tudelilla in Rioja Oriental, where the best Garnachas are to be found. A great example is Valdelacierva Garnacha 2018, a very expressive and intense wine, full of very rich, ripe fruit and accompanied by great minerality on the nose. In the mouth it is rounded and robust, smooth tannins (27 euros). And from a small plot within the estate comes Montepedriza 2019, from vineyards planted 103 years ago. The beautiful violet hues catch the eye when it’s poured, followed by an elegant and subtle nose, but with underlying nerve and punch. On the palate it is powerful, wide and long with an elegant force (65 euros). The Canto Gordo 2018 Tempranillo from Rioja Alavesa impresses on the nose with its extraordinary complexity. Mature fruit, spices like cinnamon, and wonderful cigar box notes; superb in the mouth, balanced, centered and with a lingering long finish. An incredible wine (65 euros). Finally we have the Valdelacierva Limited Edition with the blend of the three varieties (tempranillo, garnacha y maturana). Heaps of ripe fruit, Mediterranean undergrowth peppered with rockrose and eucalyptus. The mouth is structured and strong, with a very long, chewy finish. (38 euros).
James Suckling has given 93 points to Valdelacierva wine.

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Valdelacierva Reserva, one of the last wines incorporated into the range of wines, has managed to obtain a place on the podium of the best Spanish wines rated by the American wine critic, James Suckling.

Valdelacierva Reserva has been chosen by one of the most influential critics in the American wine market in his annual tasting of Spanish wines.

James suckling has given 93 points to Valdelacierva Reserva 2016. This wine adds another award and another example of good wine from Rioja, and it keeps getting awards and good reviews among the experts in the world of wine.

Another wine from Riojana’s winery that has obtained an excellent score of 91 points is Valdelacierva crianza.

The excellent work of the enologist Emma Villajos in Valdelacierva winery has only one formula: quality, excellence and teamwork.
An appointment in Canada, a new opportunity for Valdelacierva Reserva

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The Canadian monopoly offers in its latest issue of its magazine “Vintages” a European wine special. How could it be otherwise, it makes a tour of the most recognized areas of the world of wine such as Bordeaux, Champagne, Rhone, Porto and with a very special stop in La Rioja. The magazine itself recognizes that Europe is home to many of the best wines as well as the most special regions for producing them. It highlights that it is the area where winemaking began and that it is now at a time where the variety and styles of wines continue to have the best wine collections to choose from. This month and on the occasion of this special, it introduces Valdelacierva Reserva 2014 as the only novelty in Rioja. A wine that highlights “impressive structure, with good tannins and balsamic acidity, in addition to offering flavors of plum and fig, with notes of well-rounded cocoa that makes it ideal to drink from now until 2030 ”.

Emma Villajos, winemaker at Bodegas Valdelacierva comments: “This good news gives a breather to the difficult situation the wine sector is going through, which finds a very marked break in most of the reference sales markets. Being the only wine introduced into the Canadian Monopoly helps us to continue working along the same lines of quality and with the hope that together we can continue to make the Rioja brand throughout the world. ”
We are Singular Vineyard

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Valdelacierva Finca Montepedriza (produced with Grenache) and Valdelacierva Finca Cantogordo (produced with Tempranillo) are going to be the Valdelacierva wines in this category.

What does it mean to be Singular Vineyard?

Requirements:

Grapes coming exclusively from a plot or plots that constitute the (Singular vineyard) Viñedo Singular.

Vinification, ageing, storage and bottling within the same winery.

Minor geographical unit that can comprise a single or several cadastral plots.

Minimum age of the vineyard: 35 years.

Evidence, by means of any legally valid title, of having had the exclusive use of the production of the viñedo singular for a minimum period of 10 years without interruption.

Maximum production: 5,000 kg/ha for red varieties and 6,922 kg/ha for white varieties.

Maximum grape-to-wine ratio: 65%.

Specific Grape Grower’s Card.
Growing practices

The viñedo singular must be balanced and have limited vigour. During the grape ripening stage, canopy growth should cease completely.
2. Only a single tipping is permitted.
3. Harvested manually.

Documentary control

Before the 30th. of June a statement of intention to make a Singular vineyard (Viñedo Singular) wine.

Statement of amount of wine made.

Specific classification

Differentiated wine movement.

Differentiated back label.
Physical control

Traceability.

Specific production controls in all vineyards from 1 July to harvest, production changes not being allowed later.

Canopy development controls.

Specific wine stocks.

Specific classification on the verification.

Control of wine movements.

Control of labelling and use of back labels.

Control of batches of approved wine. Excellent rating.

Submission of report.

Recognition of the ministry.

Exclusivity.
Harvest 2019 has started in Rioja

By editor

Vintage 2019 has begun for Bodegas Valdelacierva in Rioja. The singular vineyard in Baños de Ebro has been the first estate to be harvested by the winemaker, Emma Villajos. If everything continues like this, we expect a spectacular harvest and excellent wines.
12 Linajes Reserva wins a Silver Medal at Concours Mondial de Bruxelles

By editor

The wine 12 Linajes Reserva 2014, produced by Viñedos y Bodegas Gormaz, has been awarded with a Silver Medal at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. The wine has been the only one from Soria awarded at the contest celebrated in Switzerland, where a jury of 300 people have tasted 9.000 wines from all the world.

With this new award, added to its 94 points and “Editor’s Choice” of the American magazine Wine Enthusiast, as well as other medals and international awards, the winery see the fruits of its commitment to quality wines, coming from the terroir and a prephilloxeric vineyard . The winemaker María José García and the winery’s technical team live their passionate work, by producing wines that reflect excellence, respect for the terroir, the old vines and a limited and handcrafted production. Furthermore, everything adds up to this winery. The location so close to the vineyard, the altitude and the weather conditions so variable between day and night, the winery continue working in the line of making the best Tempranillo wines.
Valdelacierva Garnacha- Fuera de Serie

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The luxury supplement of the economic newspaper Expansión, Fuera de Serie, turns 20 years and celebrates it by publishing a report about the best wines for a summer night. Our Valdelacierva Garnacha from Rioja (Bodegas Valdelacierva) has been selected for a picnic experience. Such an excellent suggestion!
Pruning of the vineyards

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The pruning in the vineyards of our winery Viñedos y Bodegas Gormaz in Ribera del Duero. Vineyard in globet- trained, with age between 80 and 100 years.