Miguel Merino

D.O.: DOC Rioja
Founded: 1994
Area under Vine: 11 hectares
Oak Barrels: 300 barrels of American, French and Hungarian oak
Age of Vines: 40 years old, on average
Grape Varietals: Tempranillo, Mazuelo and Graciano
Vineyards: All grapes are sourced in a series of small vineyards planted in and around Briones between 1931 and 1973.

Since the beginning of my exporting career I have long dreamt of having my own small "bodega", where I could...

It is easy to obtain an average wine from fantastic vines, but it is impossible to create a great wine out of bad grapes, and that explains our obsession for finding the small, old vineyards that nobody else wanted to work. Some planted so long ago that were designed to be tilled by horses, no tractors then. Vineyards whose grapes have the fruit, structure and intensity required to produce a grand wine. Using traditional methods which are Natu...

All the grapes are hand picked and transported in small cases so that they arrive to the winery in the best conditions. Once there, all the bunches are checked again in the sorting table.

Once the grapes are de-stalked, they are sent to the fermentation vats through a peristaltic system. The alcoholic fermentation will start naturally by the action of the yeasts from the grape skins and will take around three weeks at a controlled temperatu...