Monte Real Cepas Viejas 2021

With this new limited edition wine, Bodegas Riojanas claims to pay tribute to history. They say that “aspires to pay homage to our wisest viticulturists”. In this way, they materialize their admiration “for the work of several generations who, thanks to their involvement and dedication, have turned their vineyards into authentic wine jewels”. Some of its vineyards where Cepas Viejas de Tempranillo is born, which are worked following conventional agriculture, date back to 1920. Bodegas Riojanas selected two small own vineyards located in the municipality of Cenicero, Los Paletones and El Plantizo, planted at the end of the 70s of the last century at an altitude of 470 meters above sea level. It is also stated that it is a wine that “transports you to those old vines that decorate the Riojan landscape.”

The technical director of the Bodegas Riojanas group, the winemaker Emilio Sojo, and his team sought to reflect in the new wine the freshness, fruit and maximum expressiveness of the Tempranillo variety from these two vineyards which, due to their age, type of soil (clay-calcareous with abundant boulder) and location naturally limit production. They offer small, loose clusters with the optimal proportion between the skin and the pulp. They practice viticulture with minimal intervention. From the winery it is stated that “they are factors of an equation that, together with a production that combines the wisdom of experience with modern techniques, ensure the authenticity of Monte Real Cepas Viejas and make it a trip to the past with a clear vision of future”. They add up to 500,000 kilos of grapes from old vineyards and they have not decided to use the mention of Cepas Viejas since the Regulatory Council of the DO Calificada Rioja stipulated in its regulations, to avoid improper uses, that this mention can only be in wines sons of vineyards planted in 1980 or earlier.

Los paletones, one of the vineyards of Bodegas Riojanas — Los Paletones, one of the vineyards of Bodegas Riojanas

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The harvest was done manually in 15-kilo boxes, first thing in the morning to avoid high temperatures. They triage the bunches at a selection table located at the entrance to the winery. They choose not only the best bunches but also the best beans. After destemming, without squeezing, the grapes fermented in 10,000-litre stainless steel tanks, using native yeasts with which “we transfer the character of these unique vineyards to the glass.” It was kept in maceration for 12 days with the skins to obtain aromatic and chromatic complexity. Subsequently, a brief stay in second-use barrels was carried out: 50% French oak and 50% American oak with a medium plus light toast “to achieve a greater longevity of the wine in the bottle, giving it spicy touches and more body”. Of this vintage, 10,000 bottles were produced.

Monte Real Cepas Viejas

It stands out for its youth, its fruit load and its spicy character

Emilio Sojo, who is a member of the fifth generation of the family that owns the winery group, assures that he wanted to “surprise” with this red that even those who do not like reds can like. He says that when he created it he thought “of the new consumer, the one who looks for different things.” In fact, he has a less classic profile. Emilio Sojo has tried to “innovate” with old goblet vineyards without irrigation. He wanted to “surprise”. From this winery in the Logroño region they assure that “Monte Real Cepas Viejas will surprise you with its power of fruit aromas intermingled with notes of toffee and spices that come from its short stay in the barrel.”

This 2021 Harvest is between ruby and cherry color, with violet nuances. Medium-high layer. It stands out for its youth, its load of fruit (mainly red fruits with cream) and its spicy character on a light background of vanilla (the integration of wood is very good), empireumatics and licorice. At the same time, it shows a mineral touch (its soils are clay-calcareous, with rounded edges) and smoky. It exhibits liveliness and fluidity, with some final tannins and a very good acidity that stylizes it. It has 13.5º of alcohol. It is a modern style red, easy to drink and with a fresh finish. It is gluten free and suitable for vegans (clarified with pea protein).

Emilio Sojo Nalda at the Monte Real vineyard

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It is an ideal wine to accompany hors d’oeuvres and Iberian sausages, as well as to pair with cheeses (cured and blue) or some Riojan potatoes. This Tempranillo also harmonizes with red meat or game, with roasts or lamb chops with vine shoots and with poultry and other white meats, such as a lean Iberian feather. And it is even a good ally for a Rioja-style cod, some pochas with quail or some pears in Tempranillo red wine. The technical director of the winery prefers it with a good plate of potatoes with Riojan chorizo, like the one served at the Mesón el Porrón in Fuenmayor. Raúl García, the group’s marketing director, likes it with pochas con cocochas. It is recommended to serve at a temperature between 10º and 14ºC.

Rioja wineries

In 2019 they launched a winegrowers school to value their work

Bodegas Riojanas has its own heritage of old vines of around 10 hectares of vineyards and with “the complicity of families of viticulturists with whom they have been working for generations, people who have shared their vision and have pampered their old vineyards thinking long-term.” term”. Even in 2019 they launched a winegrowers school with the aim of “valuing the decisive role of the work of winegrowers in the final quality of the wines”. The winery was established in 1890 as a Limited Company and the corporate name of “Román Artacho y Compañía, Limited Company”. After recovering from the destruction of the vineyard by phylloxera, there were times of prosperity and thus Bodegas Riojanas sold wine in America, with batches of 1,000 bocoyes for a single client, the Cuban El Duende.

The room of columns with barrels of Bodegas Riojanas

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Bodegas Riojanas became a Public Limited Company, adopting its current corporate name, with an initial capital of two million pesetas (12,000 euros). The Artacho family already had a deep winemaking tradition when in 1890 he founded Bodegas Riojanas together with Rafael Carreras. Signs of this tradition are the stone door that in 1799 allowed access to the family vineyards and which is now preserved at the entrance to the Cenicero winery and, especially, the prizes awarded to its wines prior to said foundation, such as the medal of gold from the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888.

In 1930 they began to recover their vineyards after the devastating plague of phylloxera. In 1933, the French winemaker Gabriel Larrendat returned to his country after having spent several years at Bodegas Riojanas directing the production and aging of their wines. It was he who named one of the Bodegas Riojanas wines Monte Real. According to the winery, it was made “in honor of the very special area of vineyards that gave and continues to give today its grapes to make Monte Real wines.” They were pioneers of the DO Rioja. In fact, it is one of the thirteen hundred-year-old Rioja wineries. In 1940 they tackled the first expansion of the winery. In 1990, coinciding with its centenary, they already inaugurated their eighth extension. Banco de Santander sold its stake in the winery in 1997 to the Frías Artacho and Artacho Nieto families, descendants of the founders. This led Bodegas Riojanas to be listed on the stock market, without losing its character as a family business. The price of its shares is currently around 4.20 euros.

Two glasses of Monte Real Cepas Viejas

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Bodegas Riojanas has recently received certification Wineries for Climate Protection for his work in favor of sustainability, in large part with the reduction of the carbon footprint and energy efficiency. And they have just launched a second phase of their solar self-consumption installation, an expansion that allows the winery to produce 45% of its total electrical energy needs in the year from solar energy, thus managing to reduce the CO₂ emitted to the atmosphere in a total of 168.50 annual tons.

The family winery’s commitment to renewable energy for self-supply of electricity began a little over a year ago in a first phase that meant that 22% of the electrical energy consumed was produced by solar panels placed on the roof of the winery. After this second phase, the roof of their warehouses is covered by solar panels, thus doubling the generation of energy from renewable sources that they are capable of producing for self-sufficiency.