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