Is it possible to bottle the landscape? Evidently, aspiring to this task is a metaphorical game with which some of us winemakers try to convey a philosophy of work and respect for the nature of the vines we cultivate and the very ecosystem where they have taken root.
Valpiedra Estate is the only winery in Rioja that belongs to the Asociación Grandes Pagos de España, a private group that, in view of the limitations and legal loopholes in Spanish regulations, was created in 2000 to promote the wines produced in the region. specific terroirs and that reflect the unmistakable personality of their soil, subsoil and microclimate..
It is France, of course, which since the 19th century has classified its vineyards, its lands, into cru and grand cru, basically although with different nuances depending on the wine-growing regions, while in Spain the legislation of payment is almost recent and generic, with theWine Law of 2003. In fact, there are still commercial references on the market from wineries that incorporate the term ‘pago’ without even meeting the requirements, but they were on the market before the Wine Law.
In the case of Rioja, the figure of qualified payment, which is provided for in the law and to which Finca Valpiedra could aspire, has not been legally developed either. But, in any case, and beyond the legal requirements, for Familia Martínez Bujanda a pago is a vineyard whose characteristics (soil, microclimate, orientation…) differentiate it from the rest of the environment and make it offer a different and exceptional fruit every year.
Thus, Finca Valpiedra (Finca Valpiedra) is an exceptionally early vineyard, where each year we harvest the grapes significantly earlier than in the Rioja Alta area where we are located, due to the peculiar characteristics of the soil. our soil (boulders, which help to retain both daytime heat and nighttime humidity) and of our microclimate (very soft and influenced by the terraced layout up to almost the Ebro riverbed).
We work exclusively with autochthonous varieties, perfectly adapted to the environment, such as tempranillo, graciano and maturana tinta (a new original Rioja grape from the neighboring area of Navarrete) and viuraand we make a sustainable viticultureThe farm is respectful of the flora and fauna of our 80 hectares of land.
As our technical director, Lauren Rosilllo, says, the wines of Finca Valpiedra do not aspire to be the best wines of Rioja, but rather to be a faithful reflection of the vintage, with its pleasant and unpleasant surprises (in the 2013 vintage we did not make Finca Valpiedra because we considered that the vintage was not up to standard) and of the essence of our terroir. In short, we aspire, in effect, to bottle the richness of our ‘landscape’.
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