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THE UNDERGROUND
AGEING CELLAR
VERY STRONG LOCAL ROOTS
This unique setting punctuated by plains, forests and steep footpaths provide the
backdrop for the winery’s vines to thrive. In addition to its estate vineyards, the
company also works hand in hand with over 500 families of grape growers who
have devoted their lives to growing vines, from one generation to the next. This
experience has enabled them to pinpoint the vineyard sites best suited to each
variety, explains the winery’s marketing manager, Hugo Urquiza. “The vineyards
embrace 20 small villages located in the central part of the Rioja appellation area,
offering an extensive range of aspects, vineyard management techniques, grape
varieties, soil types and elevations, for example. It is a melting pot of Rioja and
its diversity”.
All the region’s native varieties are grown here: Tempranillo, Grenache Noir,
Graciano, Mazuelo and Maturana Tinta for the reds, and Viura, Grenache Blanc,
Tempranillo Blanco and Malvoisie for the whites. Inevitably, Tempranillo dominates
the 1,000 hectares under vine but since its inception, the winery has made
no bones about its determination to promote traditional, minority varieties.
“We believe they provide us with a unique, quality point of difference”, claims
Urquiza. “Also, they help us address climate change due to their suitability
to local conditions, and also to market demand. At the start of the 2000s, we
opted for the seductive fruit characters of Grenache, the freshness and aromatic
complexity of Mazuelo, and the structure and silkiness of Graciano. Over the past
98 SUMMER 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE