Rippa Dorii – Two wineries, outlined by the soul of the Duero

Sobre ti van los hombres y los cielos
contigo, peregrina, va Castilla

contigo van los surcos y los vuelos (…)

Over you go the lads and the skies
With you, pilgrim, goes Castilla

With you go the furrows and the flights

José García Nieto, ‘A orillas del Duero’, 1955

As one among Rioja’s most revered names, the Ontañón Household has lengthy fostered innovation by means of a deep understanding of historical past and custom. Respect for the ancestral data of native growers, alongside trendy technical experience, have lengthy steered the standard and magnificence that made Ontañón the family title it’s at present. The producer has now taken its philosophy from the valleys of the Ebro to the shores of the Duero river, with a brand new undertaking, Rippa Dorii (Latin for the shores of the Duero) on the crossroads of viticultural and poetic exploration.

Rippa Dorii reinterprets the Duero river as a foundational and symbolic axis which has, by means of millennia, formed the panorama, folks and wines of Castilla. Rather more than a watercourse, the Duero defines a pure narrative alongside which the historical past and tales of those that dwell alongside its banks have constructed their identities and mythologies. The river serves as a file of the farming and viticultural heritage, relationship again to the Center Ages, thought of one of many world’s most fascinating, ever-evolving within the wealth of its variety and within the ardour of those that carry it by means of the generations.

A poetic assertion

The undertaking borrows inspiration, and its title, from José García Nieto’s poem ‘A orillas del Duero’ (on the banks of the Duero, i.e. Rippa Dorii), a part of the e-book ‘Geografía es Amor’ (Geography is Love) printed in 1955, by which the creator dedicates a poetic file of his most cherished Spanish landscapes to his son.

García Nieto’s poem expresses Duero’s ancestral function because the image of a territory outlined by the work and desires of its farmers. Castilla is a land of wines formed by males, land and skies, with the waters of the Duero as supply of life and id. Each a geological drive that defines terroirs and a quasi non secular presence, the river is the core of Castilla’s soul, important to the wines it offers delivery to.

Purple soul – the positive aspect of Tempranillo

In Fuentecén, Ribera del Duero, Rippa Dorii produces its purple wines – elegant expressions of Tempranillo planted at excessive altitude, with fruit focus balanced by recent tannins and vibrant acidity. The acute continental local weather, with relentless winters and scorching summers, performs a key function within the fragrant complexity of the fruit, particularly within the prized previous bush-trained vines of the Salomón, San Torcaz, El Roble and La Peña plots.

The winemaking method is concentrated on class, element and nuance, and seeks a pure expression of the completely different terroirs and forgotten landscapes. Two wines – Roble and Crianza – supply complementary interpretations of the essence of Ribera del Duero by means of a aware use of several types of oak and ageing regimes.

Los Curas winery, Rueda

White soul – full expressions of Verdejo

The white wines of Castilla have its most vivid expression in Rueda and its flagship selection, Verdejo. Rippa Dorii explores Verdejo’s a number of aspects, expressed within the completely different fragrant and textural profiles outlined by every microterroir and soil, from the richer alluvial clay-rich terraces to the leaner limestone outcrops. The fruit is delivered to the vineyard after evening harvest in order that freshness is of course preserved, and is allowed to ferment spontaneously, with the indigenous yeast being itself understood as an expression of terroir. Clarification is finished by gravity as a part of a mild winemaking method centered on the preservation of the total spectrum of aromas and texture Verdejo can ship if allowed to. The consequence are two wines – Verdejo and Verdejo Natural – that stability approachability with density, breadth and size.

Geografías – mapping a area’s soul

Evoking García Nieto’s e-book, Rippa Dorii’s flagship bottles are labelled because the Geografías assortment; single-vineyard wines that remember the undertaking’s most iconic plots and their distinctive character in every classic. By way of a refined, affected person and cautious take a look at every plot, the ensuing wines hint the essence of a spot in time. Thus far, the gathering consists of one white and one purple: Los Curas (DO Rueda) y Salomón (DO Ribera del Duero). The important thing to understanding these wines is within the etymology of the phrase geography itself: the outline (‘graphia’) of earth (‘Geo’).

That is the last word purpose of the Rippa Dorii undertaking: to look at, describe, and fall in love with distinctive, forgotten landscapes. After which share them with the world in moments of straightforward, excellent contentment.

Uncover extra about Rippa Dorii and Bodegas Ontañón

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