San Vicente

San Vicente is a marvellous red wine from D.O. Rioja produced by the winerySeñorío de San Vicente, in the riojan town of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. The winery is owned by the Eguren family, a family with a great wine making tradition that is responsible for other well-known wineries like Sierra Cantabria, in the same D.O. Rioja, or Teso la Monja in D.O. Toro. San Vicente is a single variety red wine Tempranillo Peludo, a variety that, due to bad yields, was practically abandoned and now has been recovered by the Eguren family with great mastery. The grapes are grown in a unique estate, Finca La Canoca, 18 hectares with limestone-clay soils that are planted in trellices with a low yield. This estate has an Atlantic climate with continental influences that translates to great temperature differences between the night and the day during the period of grape ripening. The changes in temperature reduce the quantity of grapes produced. Less yields but a lot better quality. Bodega San Vicente practices an agriculture based on ecological principles, respecting the land, using only organic fertilizers. The harvest is placed in small crates, by hand. The first selection of the bunches is done in the vineyard, and once at the winery, there is a second selection of the grapes. The grapes are destemmed before there is an alcoholic fermentation that takes place in oak vats for 10 days at a controlled temperature between 28 and 30ºC, applying 2 daily pumpings. San Vicente undergoes a maceration with its skins for 14 days, applying 2 daily pumpings at first and then to finish one soft pumping every two days. San Vicente ages in new Bordeaux French oak (90%) and American (10%) oak barrels for 19 months and they apply rackings every 4 months. Finally it is bottled without filtration. A great wine from La Rioja that lets us know its historic variety, almost extinct, and now recuperated by the Eguren family.