Uncategorized – Independent Family Wineries https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/ Tue, 17 Dec 2024 16:28:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 Arizcuren Vinos: the character of the Yerga mountains https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/arizcuren-vinos-the-character-of-the-yerga-mountains/ https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/arizcuren-vinos-the-character-of-the-yerga-mountains/#respond Thu, 26 Aug 2021 11:58:53 +0000 http://www.independentfamilywineries.com/?p=602 […]]]> Javier Arizcuren, architect by trade and wine producer by devotion to his family’s vineyards, embarked a few years ago on his own small winemaking project. He works with Mazuelo (Carignan) and Garnacha, two minority varieties but which have always been farmed in this historic winegrowing village in Rioja Oriental until the explosion of Tempranillo and the shift of the vineyards down from the mountains to the valley. “Some people ask me if it was risky to start a project in Rioja with secondary varieties, but I think the risk lies in the opposite,” says Arizcuren. “Tempranillo is a great variety, but it is not identified with my area; if you are going to tell the rest of the world about something, it cannot be alien to you.”

His first wine, Solo Mazuelo, surprised everyone by harnessing the distinctive character of a variety that has rarely been vinified on its own. Next, he launched Arizcuren Solo Garnacha, a tribute to this extraordinary variety that was reviled in Spain until recently. Arizcuren Barranco del Prado is a single vineyard Garnacha grown at almost 800 metres elevation, as is Valdetrillo. Both wines are ‘versions’ of spectacular centenary vineyards on the same terroir, the Yerga mountain range. “Finally, Garnacha is getting the attention it deserves,” says the winemaker. His latest release, Monte Gatún (one of the region’s landmark peaks), combines Mazuelo, Garnacha and Tempranillo, which Javier also grows at 530 to 600 metres elevation: “My project is about the past, with the historic varieties of Quel, the present, with the now predominant Tempranillo, and the future, revisiting the Rioja tradition of blending the region’s main grape varieties”.

Visiting Arizcuren Vinos is an experience that should not be missed. The winemaker is doing a thorough job of documenting the history of viticulture in Quel, in the Yerga mountains to the east of Rioja, and the characteristics of the soils and the different terroirs. His winery, in Logroño, is the first and only urban winery in the heart of the city. Occupying a 130-metre space designed by one of the best architects in the region, he makes, bottles and sells his wines: “I used to travel 40,000 kilometres a year, from Logroño to the vineyards in Quel. One day we decided in the family that if I wanted to continue with this I had to think about making wine in Logroño,” Arizcuren confides. “Now it’s the grapes that travel 55 kilometres during the harvest in a refrigerated van and everything is much easier.”

]]> https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/arizcuren-vinos-the-character-of-the-yerga-mountains/feed/ 0 Hacienda El Ternero: extreme viticulture https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/hacienda-el-ternero-extreme-viticulture/ https://independentfamilywineries.com/en/hacienda-el-ternero-extreme-viticulture/#respond Mon, 26 Jul 2021 09:06:09 +0000 http://www.independentfamilywineries.com/?p=375 […]]]> In all, or almost all, the books about Rioja you will read that the region is part of three autonomous communities: La Rioja, Álava and Navarra. In fact, there are four, as there is an enclave, a small island in the Burgos province, 250 hectares spread between the villages of Sajazarra, Cihuri, Villalba and Castilseco, which has belonged to the monastery of Herrera in Miranda de Ebro since the Middle Ages. “Its origins date back to the 11th century. The hacienda was the monastery’s farm, where the monks grew vines and cereal and raised calves to use their hides in the scriptorium,” explains Nerea García-Alcubilla, a member of the family who owns the estate. After the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal in the 19th century, the property passed in to the state and was converted into a village with a school, Civil Guard barracks, a cemetery and the Virgen de la Pera shrine. All of these buildings were restored to their former glory and impress any visitor arriving at the main forecourt.

El Ternero is a secluded spot, almost a natural island where roe deer and wild boar roam freely among the vineyards. The current owners embarked on the project in 2001 and today, with some 120 hectares of vineyards, they produce just under 250,000 bottles with their own brand.

Nerea describes the characteristics of the estate: “The climate is cool and Atlantic, going up to the very foothills of the Obarenes mountains; the soils are very poor, to the point that the bedrock lies at a depth of barely one metre, and the orientation is essential for the quality of the wines.” In fact, if there is an enclave where viticulture is extreme in Rioja, this is Hacienda El Ternero. Protected from the strong winds, the plots lie in natural hollows surrounded by holm oaks, pines and spruces, a tree that belongs to the pine and fir family and which is widely found in the estate.

Hence the name of one of their wines, Picea 650, which refers to both the tree and the elevation of the vineyards. The winery also makes a multi-varietal white wine called La Pera (the name of the shrine); another barrel-fermented white made from Viura grapes; a crianza called El Torno; plus a crianza and a reserva both labelled as Hacienda El Ternero. All of them are fresh, Atlantic wines suitable for cellaring, with balsamic, spicy and menthol notes reminiscent of the forest surrounding the vineyards. The property is now offering a wide range of wine tours and experiences in a truly spectacular setting that no wine lover should fail to visit.

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