Vintae

Jer Awards to the most innovative business 2010. “It’s possible to change everything that we took for granted until now. This is what the Vintae people has done. They’ve changed some  ideas that seemed to be impossible to change. They’ve boosted the White Revolution in La Rioja”, AJER awards. April 2010.

Vintae is an innovative, young and dynamic enterprise, which elaborate wine in 12 different Designations of Origin in Spain. The initiative originates in the passion of José Miguel Arambarri Terrero for wine, an entrepreneur from La Rioja who is a connoisseur and lover of the wine world. His vision gave birth to Castillo de Maetierra and Maetierra Dominum, two wineries which spawned Vintae. With the inclusion of his two sons, Ricardo and José Miguel, Vintae came into shape as a project and is causing a real revolution in the different aspects of the wine-growing industry, by representing the avant-garde and market approach through many of its products or the creation of Valles de Sadacia, the greatest progress in white wines in the entire history of the Autonomous Community of La Rioja.

Vintae is born to create innovative wines adapted to new customer tastes. For this purpose, it has a group of over 50 professionals who share their passion for the wine world with a creative and dynamic spirit, applying this spirir to each of their specialized areas.

Vintae originates in 1999, when, by initiative of José Miguel Arambarri Terrero, an entrepreneur from La Rioja who is a connoisseur and lover of the wine world, the first Castillo de Maetierra vines were planted, the only winery specialized in white wines in the Community of La Rioja. These vines were the beginning of Valles de Sadacia, the new Protected Geographical Indication for white wines in the Community of La Rioja.

The inclusion of his two sons, Ricardo and José Miguel, who now lead the project, as well as other important pillars in the technical and sales areas, gave the finishing touches to a team of great value with an open and innovative mentality, and a will to face the most ambitious of challenges. With this great team and taken to success by the wineries located in La Rioja, they began to explore creative possibilities of other Spanish wine-making areas with the objective of creating a portfolio including the best of each wine area in Spain.

They committed to Ribera del Duero, one of the most powerful Designations of Origin in the international wine panorama, where they created De Bardos; they looked for creative freedom in Ribera del Queiles, an area adjacent to La Rioja with great innovative possibilities. In Navarra, they found the plot Monastir, where they have created an exclusive collection of estate wines.

In 2009, Matsu appears, in the Toro Designation of Origin, a project which pays homage to wine growers who have dedicated their life to the vine and combines the oriental culture of caring for what’s natural together with the most advanced techniques in biodynamic agriculture regarding European rural areas.

Currently, following a ten year adventure, Vintae has achieved the creation of a product portfolio covering, practically, the entire Spanish wine panorama, which continues to increase daily. Its commercial presence continues to grow, both nationally and internationally, and is present, to this date, in more than 40 countries, adding new markets every year.

Bodega Classica’s building is located on a bucolic hill in the historic village of San Vicente de la Sonsierra (one of the villages with the longest wine-producing tradition) and rises above a sea of vineyards irrigated by the River Ebro.

The Riojan Sonsierra is an area located on the south side of the Cantabrian Mountain Range and the Toloño mountains, which protects it from the cold winds and humidity from the Cantabrian Sea. Its climate conditions, with more rainfall during the winter than any period of the year and the wind coming through the Valley of Ebro, make it a perfect area to grow vines. Its uneven orography and calcareous clay soils with good drainage is perfect for the Tempranillo variety.

Bodega Classica brings together the grape’s excellent conditions and the essence of Rioja winegrowing tradition to create a wide range of elegant, expressive and aromatic wines.

In the Designation of Origin Rioja, the winery Maetierra Dominum has revolutionized the concept of ¨Vino de Pago¨ or better translated as, Estate Wines. In the elaboration of this wine, the grape selection is taken from four estates situated in four different zones within La Rioja, each of which possess specific characteristics owed to the combination of the soil, climate, and grape variety, that express to the maximum the properties of these wines.

The grape of the East Estate is situated in a terrain with average rainfall that concedes a character to the wine that is fruitful with floral aromas. The fundamental characteristic is the potential brought by the South Estate, a flat terrain abounding with stones, with its dryness and difference in temperature give the wines its warmth and full body. The North Estate has the gentlest climate of the four, and is located in a zone of a very rugged terrain that contributes longevity to the wine, thanks to is high tannin content and its elevated acidity. The principal characteristic of the East Estate is the elegance, and apart from this its capacity to harmonize all of the estates to create the overall excellence of the wines.

Maetierra is the only winery in La Rioja that specialises in white wines and a pioneer in the Protected Geographical Indication Valles de Sadacia. It is probably the bodega with the widest range of white wines in the world.

The project was conceived with the aim of recovering a local Rioja variety: the Muscat à Petits Grains, which is the most aromatic variety in the world and had disappeared at the end of the 19th century due to phylioxera. Out of the 150 hectares comprising the vineyard Finca Maetierra, located in Calahorra, almost 60 are devoted to this recovered variety. The Muscat à Petits Grains is the finest and most sophisticated of all Muscats. Despite being less productive and more elaborate to make, it has shown its entire potential in wines from the Libalis and Melante family, which combine complexity and freshness.

Spanish White Guerrilla is a collection of single-variety white wines from different regions of Spain, having one unique purpose: to defend the quality of Spanish white wines.

“Typically Spanish” guerrillas take part in this winemaking revolution, embodied by the most prominent of the indigenous wine varieties, including Verdejo from Rueda, Albariño, Godello from Valdeorras and Navarra’s Garnacha Blanca. There are also “international forces” at play, varieties grown for the first time in the autonomous community of La Rioja, such as Germany’s Gewürztraminer and Riesling, and France’s Viognier and Chardonnay, some of the most interesting of the European varieties.

The transgressive nature of this collection is evidenced by its labels, dominated by the guerrillas themselves, with unique features symbolic of their site of origin, highlighting the distinctive personality of each variety.

The Designation of Origin of Ribera del Duero has delivered some of the most famous wines from Spain, and in the more recent years has gained both national and international status. De Bardos selects its grapes from the towns Fuentemolinos, Quintanilla de Onésimo, Anguix and Moradillo de Roa, where without a doubt are home to some of the best aged vineyards in the Designation.

De Bardos has created a collection of Wines of the Author that are elaborated only in the harvests that receive the classification ¨Excellent¨. And in doing this, apart from the strict selection that the grapes themselves undergo, if the harvest does not reach the required quality; some of the wines are not elaborated.

De Bardos elaborates its wines in an artisanal form. The collection of the grapes is performed by hand, and later transported in 15kg crates so that the grapes arrive at the winery in perfect condition where they then select the best clusters of grapes. The Crianza in French oak barrels is matured in underground cellars of which maintain constant temperatures.

The Designation of Origin Ribera del Queiles covers Navarra and Aragon and is one of the best and most original winemaking areas in Spain. Its old vineyards, which produce a very low yield, are located on the slopes furrowed by the river Queiles, which descends from the over 2,300 metres of the Moncayo to Ribera del Ebro.

The area’s Mediterranean character is present in this strong-bodied wine with a greedy touch while the Atlantic influence generated by the Moncayo -a natural barrier for Northwest winds- contributes with freshness and a degree of acidity. Winery Arts has been inspired by the number 9, considered by several cultures as the number for supreme knowledge, to create a collection of modern and unique wines.

Matsu, which in Japanese means “wait”, pays homage to all the wine-producers that have been working vineyards for generations and devoted their effort, knowledge, respect and sacrifice. The images of the real-life wine-producers that decorate the bottle also represent the essence of each of the wines comprising this collection.

The D. O. Toro is an area with excellent conditions. A dry climate with extreme temperatures, sandy soils and centenarian vines provide a unique grape, mainly from the Tinta de Toro variety, that gives wine a great personality.

Matsu has been able to preserve the traditional strength of wines from the Designation of Origin Toro and provide a full-bodied smoothness. One of the keys to this wine is the selection of centenary vineyards -many of them pre-phylioxera- with a very low yield. Matsu grows these vineyards in a totally natural way following the principles of biodynamic agriculture.

Aroa is a “boutique” winery of the D.O. Navarra, pioneering the renewal of ecological and biodynamic agriculture. All of the vineyards are ecologically-based and cared for with ancient methods, utilizing all-natural products to allow nature to do its work.

It is located in one of the highest regions of Navarra, offering a unique freshness resulting from the Atlantic influences of the Bay of Biscay on the Mediterranean climate. This is one of the northern-most regions of the Peninsula where red grapes are grown. These characteristics come together in the Aroa collection (consisting of three reds, one White and a rosé variety), rich and elegant wines of exclusive creation.

Le Naturel is our most recent project. It is a natural wine containing no sulphites, created with a minimal amount of intervention, allowing the vineyard and the grape to shine. The wine is created with the ultimate respect for the grape, thus a very short maceration time, a light press and minimal filtration. And most importantly, no sulphites are added, resulting in a product that is 100% natural, bottled several times throughout the year to ensure that it arrives at your table as fresh as possible.

Project Garnachas of Spain pays homage to a variety that has been historically forgotten due to the complications involved in its winegrowing and making, but which the current consumer taste has recovered. Wines made with the Garnacha variety are fruity, have sweet tannins and are ideal for the current consumer.

This collection is the result of a very personal project that initiated with the search for vineyards in different areas of Spain that best reflected the essence of this variety. The result is a collection of monovarietal wines from very old vineyards that capture the concept of Terroir to perfection, as each wine expresses all the nuances and singularities typical of its area.

All these wines are made in areas near Valle del Ebro, where Garnacha originated, and it offers the optimum conditions required for this variety due to both the climate and the nature of its soils.

Bienbebido wines have one objective: to hit the target when drinking them with the dish they have been conceived for. To achieve this objective, Vintae gathered a few friends in order to experiment with different, varieties, origins and coupages.

Oenologists, sommeliers, chefs and wine enthusiasts tasted and savoured away with the aim of defining the perfect pairing for octopus, chicken, pork, beef, cheese or cured ham. Once the profile for each wine had been defined, Vintae’s technical team, with Raul Acha at the forefront, transformed these conclusions into wine. This was carried out by working with different grape varieties from several places in Spain and by employing different ageing periods in oak and bottle, thus providing each wine with the ideal characteristics to accompany each dish.

The image of the Bienbebido collection pays homage to the Spanish gastronomic culture, the culinary tradition of tascas, which are corner bars that offer dishes that can be seen from their window fronts and that provide some of the best Spanish sayings behind the counter on hanging tiles.

Francesc Ricart Brut has made following the Traditional Method with the most representative varieties of the Cava Designation of Origin. This cava still respects the essence of a traditional brut as it is aged in the bottle for 14 months, but is still maintains its freshness making it an easy-drinking and enjoyable wine.

For us, wine is a way of enjoying life as well as our professional activity. We also want all our customers to enjoy it and share it. And it is for this reason that we work with the aim of offering products which transmit concepts, ideas and sensations through all the senses, from the design of the bottle to the tasting.

Where is the passion for wine reflected? -We look for quality and singularity in the entire Spanish wine panorama. Since our inception we have searched for quality and singularity in the main wine-making areas of the Spanish wine panorama. This has lead us to be pioneers in the Ribera del Queiles and to create Valles de Sadacia, without forgetting areas with more tradition such as Ribera del Duero or Rioja.

The best varieties for each area. Vintae’s oenological team is committed to taking advantage of the singularities of each region, pushing the most distinguished local varieties to its maximum, or even for such matters foreign varieties which have proven a better adaptation. They search for the most interesting varieties for each area, and for this purpose, they do not hesitate when it comes to innovation, such as happens with Castillo de Maetierra, featuring an extensive catalogue of white varieties, or Winery Arts, by introducing a great number of foreign red varieties.

Wines transmitting passion. Vintae wines manage to make contact with the current consumer.  From the first to the last, the entire Vintae team works so that each detail involving its wines is able to transmit the soul of the wine-growing project in hand. Its area, philosophy, values… all of this to achieve a full experience which completely satisfies the consumer’s expectations. Adapted to current consumer tastes, who demand less aggressive, easy-drinking wines, but without renouncing to maximum quality, power and nuance richness, and respecting the singularity of each area.

Vinopedia.tv is a Web page which shows the process of wine-making from the beginning of the vine’s growth cycle up to its tasting. It features a series of videos which show such a special process as wine-making is to people arriving in this world for the first time or people who want to deepen their knowledge and further understand its stages and peculiarities.

Raúl Acha, Technical Director of Vintae, is the person in charge of transmitting the knowledge acquired in his entire life, from the tradition of his Riojan family, always connected to the vine, to his subsequent studies. He carries it out in an easy and direct way, always shying away from an excessive use of technical terms. Raúl tries to show a close and didactical point of view of a drink conceived for enjoying.

Vinopedia.tv is born from the belief that the more you know something, the more you enjoy it and, therefore, Raul, and his team, try to simplify a world which in occasions has drifted away from the consumer due to its excessive use of technical terms, leading to the idea that wine is something complex and only enjoyed by an elite of experts. From Vintae we have created a tool in order to share our passion and knowledge for the wine world.