THE TERROIR


The terroir is responsible for that unique flavour, typical from a certain place, which expresses itself inside the wine. It is the miracle of the land, the climate, its geography, its geology…to sum up, it is a combination of factors that enables the elaboration of wines which are made in the same way.

Each area and each valley of appellation Rioja has its own characteristics, which depend on the existing relationship between climate-ground-vine. Do not forget about the importance of the production techniques that have to be utilized in the elaboration. Together, they determine the features of each wine.

Bodegas Berceo´s vineyards are distributed throughout different municipalities, which enables the exploitation of the different characteristics from each land, as well as the ones provided by each grape variety.

This diversity is favorable to Bodegas Berceo as it makes it possible for them to create wines which show the potential of each area.

 

Location and features of our vineyards

Haro: vineyards with poor white ground, made of clay, most of which have sun orientation. Located at around 750 meter high, following the traditional plantation system. Hand harvested with boxes of 20 kilos each. Varieties: Tempranillo, mazuelo and garnacha.

Baños de Ebro / Elciego: vineyards located in the border between La Rioja and Álava. Bodegas Berceo has vineyards in several areas:

Next to the river we can find the pre-phylloxeric, which has a great value. As its name says, this vineyard is previous to the appearance of the phylloxera. These vines are older than 170 years, which provide a selected and unique production. Depending on the year, up to 5.400 bottles can be produced. The vines are in bush, on a sandy soil. Because of this, the phylloxera did not affect these vineyards. Harvest is done manually in boxes of 20 kilos each. Varieties: Tempranillo

The rest of the vineyards located in Baños de Ebro are in a higher altitude, in Elciego. They are called “the vineyards from the 36” due to the year when they were planted (1936). These vineyards are older than 80 years old, and harvest is done manually. It has a limited production of 28000 bottles coming from its 8 hectares of vineyard. Planted in bush, on a ferrous clay soil. Varieties: Viura and Tempranillo.

San Asensio: these vineyards are located in Najerilla Valley. They are older than 35 years, and they are planted in bush. Harvesting is done manually in boxes of 14 kilos each. The ground is composed by ferrous clay soil and is oriented towards the North. The vineyards are 700 meters high. Varieties: Tempranillo, Mazuelo y Viura.

Sojuela: Rioja Alta area. Vineyards planted in bush, which are older than 25 years. These are planted in a ferrous clay and stone soil, with a Mediterranean influence. They are placed at 500 meters high. Harvesting is done manually. Varieties: Mazuelo.

Ventosa: Rioja Alta area. Vineyards older than 40 years, planted in bush. Poor ferrous clay soil, south-west orientation. Manual harvesting in boxes of 12 kilos each. Varieties: Tempranillo.

Medrano: Rioja Alta area. Vineyards older than 30 years old, planted in bush in ferrous stone soil. Its red color is to be highlighted. Manual harvesting. Varieties: Tempranillo, Garnacha and Viura.

Each of these features are shown in the personality that each wine boasts.

“These are medium-bodied wines, with medium structure and the acidic characteristic of the wines elaborated in Rioja Alta. They have a flavor of wood but the fruit dominates, something which is ideal to let them evolve”   -Primitivo Gurpegui.