Remirez de Ganuza, a wine paradise in La Rioja

The vineyards comprise more than eighty hectares of Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura, and Malvasía. They are spread across six towns in the Sierra Cantabria: Samaniego, Leza, Elciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Laguardia, and Ábalos, in Rioja Alavesa. In selecting each site, careful consideration was given to the habitat, microclimate, plot orientation, the low productivity of the vines, and the age of the vineyard, with the average age of the vines being fifty years. This extensive area of land allows them to be self-sufficient in grapes of the highest quality.

Technical Sheet

Winery: Estate vineyards at Bodegas Fernando Remírez de Ganuza, Samaniego (Rioja Alavesa).
D.O.Ca. La Rioja
Alcohol: 14%

Variety: 90% Tempranillo, 5% Graciano, 5% Viura and Malvasía skins

Tasting notes: Purplish black.
On the nose: Fine and complex. Soft aromas of ripe red and black fruit.
On the palate: Flavorful and focused. Well-polished tannins. Broad, elegant, delicate, and long.

Serving temperature: 16ºC

Winemaking: They are spread across six towns in the Sierra Cantabria: Samaniego, Leza, Elciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Laguardia, and Abalo.
The harvest is carried out by hand in 12 kg crates. Before fermentation, the grapes are kept in cold rooms for 24 hours at a temperature of 4-6 degrees.
The grapes pass over a sorting table where the different parts of the bunch are separated. To make this wine, the shoulders are used: the upper part of the bunch, most exposed to the sun and therefore the ripest.
Fermentation takes place in small stainless-steel tanks and French oak vats. Malolactic fermentation takes place in new barrels.
Aging is carried out for 24 months in new oak barrels (80% French oak and 20% American oak).
We recommend decanting it for one hour before enjoying this outstanding La Rioja wine.

The Remírez de Ganuza vineyards comprise more than eighty hectares of Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura, and Malvasía. They are spread across six towns in the Sierra Cantabria: Samaniego, Leza, Elciego, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Laguardia, and Ábalos. In selecting each site, careful consideration was given to the habitat, microclimate, plot orientation, the low productivity of the vines, and the age of the vineyard, with the average age of the vines being fifty years. This extensive area of land allows us to be self-sufficient in grapes of the highest quality.

Pairing: at Made in Spain Gourmet, we recommend this wine with big game, grilled red meats, roast red meats, of course with acorn-fed Iberian ham, roast lamb, and aged cured sheep’s or goat’s cheeses.

A traditional winery with avant-garde winemaking

You will find Remírez de Ganuza in the center of Samaniego, a beautiful medieval village at the foot of the Sierra de Toloño. Medieval in origin, it still preserves today the appearance of a fortified village, visible in many of its buildings and especially in the 16th-century Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, built beside one of the four towers that defended the town.

The Remirez de Ganuza winery, as mentioned above, is located in the center of Samaniego, Álava. It consists of a block of buildings, old village manor houses, and is composed of modern reinforced-concrete structures clad in ancient ashlar stone, thus blending into the traditional local architecture.

Around a large central courtyard crossed by a natural water channel, the different buildings that make up the winery are devoted to the various stages of winemaking, such as the barrel room, bottle racks, cold rooms, and selection area.

The winery’s traditional architecture, whose interior roof of centuries-old oak beams stands out, contrasts with one of the most avant-garde and innovative winemaking methods of the moment.

Rioja Alavesa: the elite of La Rioja wines

Rioja Alavesa is classified as a subzone within the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin. It has 13,500 hectares of vineyards and several hundred wineries, producing an annual average of around 40 million liters of wine.

The area is especially known for red wines with specific general characteristics, such as bright, vivid color, a fine aroma, fruity flavor, and a pleasant palate. These qualities are due to the area’s clay-limestone soils, which are excellent for allowing the vines to absorb the moisture they need. Their quality is also enhanced by the climate and the location of the vineyards behind the Sierra de Toloño, which protects the vines from the cold northern winds and allows them to make better use of the warmth.

Red wines are the region’s most representative wines and are made with the Tempranillo varieties (around 79% of the total is produced from this grape), Garnacha, Mazuelo, and Graciano.

Young wines, or red wines of the year, are mostly made using the traditional carbonic maceration method, in which whole bunches are fermented in a “lake” for seven to ten days. Once free of skins and stems, they are transferred to vats where they complete fermentation.

Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva wines, on the other hand, are made using the Bordeaux or destemming method. This consists of crushing the grapes, removing the stems, and incubating the must with its solids for seven days. After several fermentations, they are transferred to barrels for aging. The time spent in barrel and bottle is what marks the difference between Crianzas, Reservas, and Gran Reservas.

Because rosé and white wines are increasingly appreciated both within and beyond Spain’s borders, winemakers and oenologists are working to produce quality wines from these varieties, as part of a commitment to reaching every market.