Great wines are not produced by chance. A rare blend of climate conditions and geology makes Elciego a truly privileged part of the Rioja Alavesa region as far as grape growing is concerned.
His more than 50 years’ experience in Rioja wine techniques has given our oenologist Manuel Ruiz Hernández a very clear idea as to the factors that affect the quality of a wine. His thoughts on soil, climate and grape varieties are as follows:
"The 25 hectares of vineyards owned by DIEZ-CABALLERO stand on the type of chalky clay soil that is at the heart of high-quality red wines". Some of this land has been planted with vines for 60 years, and the average figure is 30 years. The vineyards are located in Elciego, at an altitude of 450-500 m above sea level, and the soil is ideal for obtaining top-quality grapes.
"The dominant variety is TEMPRANILLO, an autochthonous grape that performs best on chalky clay soils". Tempranillo grapes are at their best in our vineyards with moderate production levels.
"The land is south-facing, which means that it gets the best sunlight for perfect ripening". Our vineyards stand on gentle north-to-south slopes highly exposed to sunlight, sheltered from the north winds by the Toloño hills. The low rainfall and wide day-night temperature variations enable harvesting to take place in October, when the grapes are healthy and perfectly ripe on the branch.
“Careful nurturing, with little fertiliser and severe pruning, means that our grape harvest is small but of excellent quality”. Our red wines are of the finest quality, with good colour, superbly structured and extraordinarily smooth on the palate.
We know what we are looking for in the glass, and we set out to achieve it by taking the best possible care of our grapes on the vine, under the highly capable directions of our great friend and oenologist Prof. Manuel Ruiz Hernández.