Bodegas Arrocal

22/05/2014

Envero Awards 2014

Bodegas Arrocal  Rosa de Arrocal 2013 named best rose in Ribera del Duero by over 1000 consumers

 Gumiel de Mercado, in a wonderful setting in Ribera del Duero, has always been a town with a wine-growing tradition. Its structure is medieval and in the town centre there is a hill where our ancestors dug underground cellars to keep their wines.  

 We – Rosa and Moisés – were born in this little town, and from our ancestors we inherited this tradition, the vines and the land where we have been planting new vines with the same care but adapted to new technologies.

 This project began in 1999 when we took over the family vineyard and planted new plots. In 2003 we built the winery and began making our wines. The result of this project, with all its work, effort and excitement, has been ARROCAL – our passion.

All our vineyards are in Gumiel de Mercado, at an altitude of around 830m. We currently have 33 hectares of vineyards. The varieties planted are 29ha of tempranillo (tinta del país), 2ha of cabernet, 1ha of merlot and 1ha of albillo.

The climate of Ribera del Duero is characterised by moderate/low rainfall (450mm rainfall a year), together with its dry summers (40ºC) and long, harsh winters (-18ºC), and with sharp thermal oscillation over the seasons.

These special weather conditions have a great influence over the vegetative cycle of the vines, playing a fundamental role in the development of the plant and the ripening of the grapes. The quality of our wines is largely the result of these conditions.

The construction of our winery was completed in 2003. It is an area provided with the latest technical advances designed above all to show maximum respect to our treasure: our grapes.

All wine-making tasks are carried out using gravity, with gentle destemming of the grapes, which come in harvest boxes and, after passing over a selection table, are moved by gravity into our 16,000-litre stainless steel tanks. We ferment a maximum of 12,000kg in each tank. We have an automatic temperature control system using showers, so that we ferment at the temperature required by each point in the wine-making process. Medium-length maceration to seek the maximum expression of the fruit and gentle pressings using a small-capacity press.

We have a 600-barrel ageing unit, with 80% French oak barrels and the rest in American oak, where our wines grow for the time they need to give them structure without losing their identity.

Dry pruning

We do this during the period when the vines are resting, once the vegetative cycle is over, in the months of February and March. It consists of removing tendrils, shoots, old wood and other vegetative parts of the vine. We leave five or six inches per vine, with two clear buds per inch. These will determine the quality and quantity of the grapes.