Bodegas Ramon de Ayala Viña Santurnia Rioja Crianza

Country	Spain
Region	Rioja
Producer	Viña Santurnia
Size	750mL
Style	Red
Practices	Organic
Grapes	Tempranillo
Other Features	Vegan

100% Tempranillo from Rioja Alta (Haro) and Rioja Alavesa (Labastida). Fermentation in stainless steel tanks until October, then the wine is racked and aged for 12 months in neutral barrels (80% American oak, 20% French). It stays an additional time in tank until bottling, in September. 12 months of aging in bottle before release.

Bright, ruby-red wine with good structure. Round in the mouth with a pleasant finish. 14% alcohol. 60,000 bottles produced.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER: Viña Santurnia

Bodegas Ramon de Ayala is located in the tiny town (about 250 people) of Brinas, in Rioja Alta. Established in the northwest of Rioja between the mountain of Toloño (part of the mountain chain of Sierra de Cantabria) and the left margin of the Ebro river, Briñas is a privileged village for vine cultivation. It is 3 km from Haro (Rioja Alta) and another 3 km from Labastida (Rioja Alavesa).

The domaine is a five generation family property that was created in 1853 by Tomas de Ayala. The winery now owns 30 hectares of vineyards in Rioja Alta (Briñas, Haro and Rodezno) and Alavesa (Labastida). Most of the vineyards (80%) are planted with Tempranillo. The rest is used to grow Viura, Mazuelo, Garnacha and Graciano. The oldest vineyard was planted in 1920, and most of the vineyards are 30 to 40 year old.The total production is around 18,000 cases.

In 1985, a new functional winery was created. It has 4700sf of underground facilities, equipped with stainless steel tanks and 500 liters barrels. The old bodega, which has a two story underground wine cave, is now used for aging homemade Cava. Today the Bodega is run by Gonzalo (the agronomist, in charge of the vineyards) and his uncle Ramon (the oenologist, in charge of the winemaking).

Farming practices: organic. Will spray sulfur if needed.