Sierra Cantabria Selección

D.O.Ca. Rioja

San Vicente de la Sonsierra.

100% Tempranillo

Estate owned vineyards surrounding the village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, sandwiched between the foothills of the Sierra Cantabria mountain range and the Ebro River.

1950-2000

Practicing organic dry farmed viticulture with certain selective biodynamic practices. Vineyards trained as spur-pruned goblet vines as well as high density trellises. Manual work and harvest, with no mechanization whatsoever.

Calcareous clay soils that are typical to the Sonsierra Riojana. Limestone rich clay soils that are sandwiched between large slabs of lime-sandstone mother rock.

Continental with heavy Atlantic influences that are moderated by the Sierra Cantabria.

The grapes undergo rigorous double-manual sorting, both before and after destemming. 100% of the clusters are destemmed, but not crushed. Non-temperature controlled fermentation in concrete "lagares" or subterranean tanks (inoculated) with indigenous yeast that have been selected from their vineyard and cellar. Maceration lasts 20-30 days. Malolactic fermentation in foudre.

8 months in 80 year old 10,000L foudre that were used at the beginning of the 20th century to ship wine on trains up to Bordeaux during phylloxera. Due to the low temperatures and high humidity in the family's cellar, the rate of oxidation is reduced allowing the family to work with low levels of SO2.

Sierra Cantabria Selección is the entry-level Rioja bottling produced by the Eguren family of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. While the family is most well known for their single cru classified bottlings, they produce outstanding young wine from their estate vineyards in San Vicente. While this category is dominated by blends of purchased fruit sourced from many growers across the entire appellation, the Eguren family are one of the few (if not the only) families in Rioja that produce an estate grown and bottled "tinto joven" from a single village.