A GLASS OF WINE

Camesía del Alto Ebro, the red mountain wine.

The name of this wine sinks its roots deeper than the vines of its grapes. When you visit his vineyard you see the red mountain that gives the wine its name because crimson in Spanish means red and that is where the name of the mountain “Camesía” comes from. The second name “del Alto Ebro” is a sign of pride for a wine that comes from Valderredible, which means “Valley of the Ebro”.
During the visit they told us very clearly: “Our vineyards are in the same place where they have always been. We asked the elders of the town and they all remembered the exact place.”
It is clear that we are facing a project totally anchored in tradition,

But don’t stop looking to the future.

We are talking about Spain, about a Spanish wine, close to the great wineries of Rioja and Rivera del Duero. Two wines that have been working the land, the product and the brand for years and are two very important references worldwide. It would be foolish not to take advantage of that knowledge.

Following the model of the wineries of La Rioja, tourism is part of the project from the outset. During our visit we can see the almost finished main building where the wine will be stored and weddings and company meetings will be held. Valderredible has a transitional landscape between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Castilla plateau that makes it unique. This location is precisely what gives the valley a climate that allows it to have red wine, unlike the mountain areas where it is much easier to have white wine.

The vines are duly treated and similar to those of other wineries and it will be the land and the good work of the producers that are responsible for obtaining a different product.

Camesía winegrowers recently gave an interview to Vive Campoo where they explain the origin and idea of ​​this project:
Peña Camesía is the name that Gustavo Lucio’s winery will receive this year, a Campurrian who has recovered the wine tradition in Valderredible. The family project, in which his father Bernardo and his brother Guillermo also participate, focuses on wine tourism and the promotion of the architectural and cave culture of the municipality in which the land where he began his career more than 15 years ago. in winemaking. ‘Valle del rupestre’ is the slogan that appears on the Tempranillo bottles that he offers to his customers at his bar, La Olma, in Polientes.

-Is the history of his relatives linked to winemaking?

-No. There has been no tradition in our family, in fact, we didn’t start farming until 2003. After reading a publication about wine in our region, my father and I realized that our situation was ripe for farming, because we had land in Valderredible, a municipality very suitable for planting vineyards.

-What aspects make Valderredible an ideal municipality for growing grapes?

-The sun and humidity. The more water there is in the environment, the more diseases will appear. The municipality of Campurriano has a dry climate, so it is not necessary to apply so many chemical products to the fruit. In addition, this land has very calcareous and sandy soils, abandoned mountain areas that are not suitable for growing potatoes, but are suitable for growing vines.

-The hill where he planted his first vineyards will give his winery its name.

-Yes. The farm is in Arenillas de Ebro, below Mount Peña Camesía. In turn, we have vineyards in Quintanilla de An and Polientes, where we have already begun to repair the warehouse for the winery.
-How many hectares make up the three cultivated areas of it?

-Four hectares, of which 3.5 are red wine. I mostly plant the Tempranillo grape variety, which is the most suitable for aging. For two years we have also cultivated 5,000 m2 of Godello from the Galician region of Valdeorras, and 3,000 m2 of natural Viognier from the Rhône Valley, in France. We want to start distributing them in three or four years.

Actually, all the plantations in our country, including ours, are made up of American roots, on which European clones of, for example, Tempranillo or Verdejo are grafted. Terms that are confused with the appellations of origin Rueda, Rioja or Ribera.

-Which is the reason?

-During the 1870s, the main wine-producing areas of Spain were infected with phylloxera, a disease that attacked the root, drying out the grapes. For this reason, the winemakers saw the need to use the American vine, which barely forms the nodes and tuberosities that allow the entry of fungi and bacteria that rot the roots.

-How is the production process?

After crushing the grapes, the red wine has to go through two different fermentation phases to get the harvest. Our intention is to sell bottles of aging, but to achieve this it has to rep

Daring one year in the barrel and another in the glass container. A purpose that we intend to fulfill this year or at most the next. Meanwhile, we have preferred to make young wine.

-When did the wine tradition begin in Valderredible?

In the high Middle Ages, the cultivation of the vine was an important value in the Campurrian region, proof of this is that the Collegiate Church of San Martín de Elines has a Codex from the 15th century that mentions the presence of vineyards in the municipality. The manuscript tells how the farmers used the bad grapes to pay tithes to the old monastery, the good ones they kept.

-Wine tourism and the promotion of cave culture complete the project that surrounds the Peña Camesía winery.

I want to create a wine tourism center related to the cave and architectural culture of Valderredible, so that tourists who are interested in getting to know the wineries have the possibility of accessing different packages that include visits to the most outstanding heritage sites in the municipality and the Shire. In addition, I intend to contact several hotel accommodations so that they can end the day by spending the night in the municipality. I want to delegate in rural houses.

How many bottles of aging do you hope to sell in the first year?

Our purpose is to carry out a local distribution of 20,000.

The biodynamic cultivation of Bodega Señorío del Pas.

The cellar “Señorío del Pas” .

Tey are Antonio and Coral, an adventurous couple who in 2007 decided to dedicate their lives to making a high-quality, healthy and environmentally friendly wine with the grapes that themselves grow on our estate in San Martín de Villafufre in Cantabria. For this we implement Biodynamics in their lives and in their vineyard.

Biodynamic

Our commitment to the environment led us to implement in the company an agricultural technique that unites agriculture and lunar cycles. It is about biodynamics, which makes use of the wisdom of previous generations regarding natural cycles to obtain healthier and toxic-free products that recover the authentic flavors and aromas of each terroir and maintain the natural balance of ecosystems.

Biodynamics not only covers agricultural work but also the preparation of the final product, thus avoiding the innumerable laboratory additives and processes that interfere with the naturalness of the product. It is a way of life that we have chosen because it is about giving back to the earth what it has given us and it is based on health, care for the environment that surrounds us and the nutritional and organoleptic quality that is transmitted to the final product.

A Cup of Nature

They make an aromatic and elegant wine with a fruity character with a floral background and touches of the terroir that preserves that point of acidity that collides with the sweetness of the varieties, integrating in the mouth to produce gratifying sensations. The color of the wine is that of the grape resulting from a good maturation, avoiding oxidative prominence.

The coupage of these two varieties, Godello and Gewürztraminer, and its natural production process are unique in the world.

When you taste Señorío del Pas you drink tradition, culture, respect for nature and the immense enthusiasm that they put into their work.

The Vines

It is a 4-hectare sandy loam estate on a south-facing slope at an altitude of 350-400 meters in San Martín de Villafufre (Cantabria) with 20% Gewürztraminer and 80% Godello. They work their wine in the field to obtain a grape in perfect condition and not have to cook it in the cellar. It is a trellis vineyard with a training wire one meter from the ground to avoid the humidity of the earth and thus have better ventilation. They maintain the vegetation cover to respect the natural balance of the soil. They cut the grass and the treatments they use are biodynamic preparations, decoctions, extracts, tinctures and infusions of plants and minimal amounts of copper and sulfur suitable for organic farming. They use natural fertilizer composted by themselves based on the manure of their animals, grass and other organic remains together with biodynamic preparations for compost. They thus avoid the use of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizers that leave residues in the soil and plants that are later transmitted to the wine.

The Winery

It is a stone cabin typical of the Valles Pasiegos area that was previously used for livestock and that was converted into a winery and that is located in the same vineyard where they make wine with grapes coming only from their vineyard. The only function of the winery is to accompany the wine during the transformation process and take care of it so that it preserves and expresses all its natural properties, aromas and tastes.

I you want to know more https://senoriodelpas.es/