Alomado

D.O.Ca. Rioja

North-eastern San Vicente de la Sonsierra, on the border with Ábalos

Field blend of roughly 80% Tempranillo, 10% Viura, 6% Malvasía, 4% Calagraño

Ribarrey single vineyard

1960

Practicing organic traditional viticulture. High density trellised field blend located on south-west facing mountain slopes. Due to the small size of the project, all viticultural duties including pruning, leaf pulling, plowing by horse, selecting cover crops, and digging soil pits are all carried out by Eduardo.

Calcareous clay intermixed with alluvial sediment, boulders, and quartzites. Relatively deep subsoil with high percentages of clay and loam.

Continental with strong Atlantic influence and moderated by the Sierra Cantabria mountain range.

The grapes undergo rigorous double-manual sorting, both before and after destemming. The whole berries ferment spontaneously in 3,000L French oak vats, with very gentle extraction via pigeage. Total maceration lasts around 20 days. Gentle pressing in a vertical basket press. Late malolactic fermentation (May-June) in neutral 500L French puncheon.

18 months in 500-litre barrels and 3 months in bottle in an 18th-century underground cave. Due to the low temperatures and high humidity, the rate of oxidation is reduced allowing Eduardo to work with low levels of SO2.

Alomado refers to the rolling hills or "lomas" that mark the landscape of the Sonsierra Riojana, considered by many to the finest terroir in Rioja for cultivating Tempranillo due to the Atlantic weather, high altitude, and limestone rich soils. Alomado is Eduardo and Carlota's most Atlantic and accessible interpretation of a field blend planted on the Ábalos side of San Vicente de la Sonsierra.