la rioja Alta

La Rioja (from Rio Oja) is an autonomous community and province in north central Spain, along the Ebro river which flows east into the Mediterranean a bit south of Barcelona. Its capital is Logroño. It covers part of the Ebro valley towards its north and the Iberian Range in the south.

The Rioja Alta, the section of Rioja along the southwest bank of the upper Ebro and its tributaries, is one of the world’s great wine destinations, with the planet’s largest concentration of century-plus old wineries. A sublime conjunction of terroir, wine, art and architecture make this a bucket-list district.

Wines of the Rioja Alta’s poor, stony soils are elegant and delicate much like their cousins from the Rioja Alavesa across the river.

Castillo de Cuzcurrita

The medeival Castillo de Cuzcurrita was built by the Suarez-Figeroa family between the 14th and 15th centuries. After its acquisition by its current owners in 1999, the castle, adjacent to the rose garden and surrounded by vineyards, has been fully restored and developed into a modern winery.

Located in the village of Cuzcurrita on the Tiron River in the far west of the Rioja Alta district, the vineyards sit on thin, sandy-clay soils with high lime content. The cooler climate of the Alta produces Rioja wines of bright acidity and great balance. The winery owns some 40 acres of vineyard and rents another 25 from neighbors, producing around 16,000 cases of wine annually.

Vines are grown organically, dry farmed and hand harvested. Reds are produced of 100% Tempranillo, while a smaller amount of white is made from their plantings of Viura.

Winemaking is led by Legendary oenologist Ana Martin Onzain who has been with the winery since the first vintage was produced in the year 2000 in the castle’s old winemaking facilities. In 2005 a completely new winery was inaugurated, in a building adjacent to the castle and the vineyard, within the walled enclosure.  The new winery is designed for minimal intervention, with all systems gravity-fed

The wine

Senorio de Cuzcurrita Rioja: 100 Tempranillo grown on alluvial soils from the River Tirón, with lots of pebbles and a chalky-clay subsoil. Very deep and very loose soil. 30-year old bush-trained vines grown using IVM, IPM and organic practices.

The wine sees a minimum of 12 months in new and second-year French-oak casks in which they also undergo the malolactic fermentation. The wine is not fined but rests during the winter months in concrete vats prior to bottling. All the wines receive at least 24 months bottle aging before release.