Remelluri is one of the most timeless and iconic landscapes of the wine world, as well as one of the most enchanting vineyards in Spain. Firmly anchored in its deep history, which dates back to the tenth century when Count Erramel, a Basque warrior and aristocrat from Álava, founded a small village on the site (uri in Basque); hence the name Erramel Uri evolved to Remelluri. The first wines were made here in the fourteenth century, when Hieronymite monks tended the monastery atop the nearby Sierra de Toloño mountains and founded a sanctuary and farm on the site. Today, Remelluri leverages its rich past to illuminate the path forward for not only the future of Rioja but also for world-class, terroir-based fine wines across Spain. 

Remelluri became the first single-estate/monopole Rioja of the modern era with its release of the 1971 vintage. Remelluri is currently owned and tended by the Spanish winemaking icon Telmo Rodríguez and his family, with Telmo’s creative partner Pablo Eguzkiza heading up the winemaking team. 

Remelluri’s vineyards are located contiguously along the slopes of the Sierra de Toloño mountains, part of the Sierra de Cantabria chain, in the valleys of Valderemelluri, La Granja, and Villaescusa, just above the village of Labastida in Rioja Alavesa. The Remelluri vineyards are at the highest elevation in the Rioja region, with south-facing vines planted between 590 and 805m, protected from the prevailing northern winds and frost. The Remelluri landscape is an integrated system of agriculture with great respect for the environment, which includes certified-organic farming with biodynamic treatments, as well as regenerative and agroforestry elements employed throughout the property to encourage biodiversity and harmony between the vineyard, mountainside, and human elements. 

The estate consists of over a hundred and fifty individual plots, all of which are vinified separately. One of the keys to the location’s significance is that the vines are planted in terraced amphitheaters following the contours of the mountainside, which shelters them from the harsh weather on the leeward side. Remelluri is pure mountain Rioja.

Remelluri Reserva is the original wine from Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri, sourced from the most important vineyards consisting of 153 plots in 25 sites at the contiguous property. Only indigenous varieties are used, planted as far back as 1918 through today, averaging 40 years old. The blend consists primarily of goblet-trained tempranillo, garnacha, and graciano varieties with an average yield of 29hl/ha. Only grapes from the estate are used for Remelluri Reserva, farmed organically (certified by ENEEK, the Basque Agricultural Regulatory Council), with the utilization of regenerative and biodynamic farming principles. Remelluri Reserva is made with low intervention, and bottled unfiltered, with minimal sulfur added at bottling.

Vinification – Bunches are hand-selected, placed in small boxes and taken directly to the winery. Whole clusters are destemmed and crushed, and the must is spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks and old, open-top foudres. The wine is aged for 21 months in foudres and barrels of various sizes, clarified with gelatin and bottled unfiltered. Remelluri Reserva is aged in bottle for five years in the Remelluri cellar before release to the market.

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