Miguel Merino has been an exporter of Spanish
wines to the rest of the world for many years and had always dreamt
of owning his own small “bodega”, where he could make a few bottles
of wine of the best quality possible. Twenty years ago, he restored
an old 19th Century house on the outskirts of the town of Briones.
All the grapes come from very old vines planted in bush formation
between 1931 and 1963 in Briones. Briones is in the heart of the
Rioja Alta, has old vineyards of Tempranillo grapes, chalky soil and
a climate showing a marked Atlantic influence; it offers all they
could wish. The vineyards are located in slopes facing South and
South-west with low-yielding clay and calcareous soils, at an
altitude of 550 metres. Almost all of them are Tempranillo, one of
the grape varieties that best reflects the particular conditions of
each parcel. They also work with a small vineyard planted with
Graciano, a very hard-to-grow grape variety which is a great
companion to Tempranillo for its tannins and vivacity. The picking
is made by hand, using small boxes that will take the bunches to the
vinification room without any damage to the fruit and the alcoholic
fermentation will start naturally by the action of the yeasts from
the grape skins. Once this second fermentation is completed, the
wine -already clarified- will be aged in American, French or
Hungarian oak new barrels, made by Murúa, probably the best cooper
in Spain. The maturation in oak will last as long as each vintage
needs, usually between eighteen and twenty-five months. The wine
will then be bottled and left to rest and develop for at least two
years in the 20,000 to 30,000 bottles that we fill every harvest.
Now, as one of the smallest and youngest wineries in Spain–their
first vintage was 1994 and they make just over 3,000 cases of wine-
the wines are among the most prestigious in the country, and are
exported to over 30 markets.
office (206)
332-1995