Diary of a Shopkeeper, 25th June

Stormy skies over Conrado and El Arca vineyard (planted 1892.)

‘What I Did on my Holidays’ – the fourth and final part.

My wine buying trip through Spain was actually better than a holiday. Yes, there was sunshine on beautiful landscapes of vines and olive trees, interesting old towns with cathedrals and street cafes, and weird, wonderful food eaten to a soundtrack of burbling Spanish. But best of all, we were on a mission. Maybe I’m impatient, but I tend to get bored after a couple of days of doing nothing. No chance of that on this trip: every hour was crammed with visits to different wineries where enthusiastic and knowledgeable hosts showed us around and explained the history, philosophy and flavour of their wine.

No guide was more enthusiastic and knowledgeable than Conrado of Ontañón in Rioja. Last week I recounted the five-generation story of the winery, and described a trek to one of the highest vineyards in Rioja – high in both altitude and quality – where Conrado poured seven excellent wines for us to try. All that and it was only 11am. From there we descended to the village of Quel, where Ontañón started, and where its heart still lies, despite its global reach.

The village has a dramatic setting: the houses huddle under a towering sandstone cliff with a ruined castle on top, testament to medieval battles. (The name of the village comes from the Arabic word ‘qal’a’ meaning fortress.) When not being called on to fight for one king or another, one religion or another, the villagers led a quiet agricultural life, making wine in caves on the lower cliffs on the other side of the Río Cidacos. Some of the caves are still used for winemaking, for personal consumption. Some are used as bases for summer barbecues or swimming in the river. Others are abandoned.

Ontañón have done something unique and very impressive with their old family cave. While maintaining the ancient design – grapes emptied into a lum at the top, to be crushed one level down, and aged lower still – they have expanded and elaborated the old model into a state-of-the-art 21st century winery. The fruit-receiving area at the top is large enough for a grape-filled truck to reverse into. The grapes are directed by a giant robotic chute into one of twenty gleaming steel tanks for their initial fermentation. The fantastic, fresh fruitiness of Rioja is established at this point.

Another level down is a dark, silent barrel hall. Hundreds of French and American oak barrels – each one costing 1,000 euros – contain thousands of litres of wine ageing a minimum of one year and often two or more. This is the stage that brings sweet vanilla aromas to the wine, and a mouth-pleasing creamy texture. Below that are cellars with tens of thousands of bottles awaiting release. After two years in barrel, Gran Reserva Rioja must rest a further three in bottle to mature and deepen in flavour.

Next was a professional tasting room, which looked like a laboratory. Rows of pristine white benches, each with a dedicated light to assess the colour of the wine, and its own sink for spitting out the samples. This may seem like a waste, but as we were about to try a dozen wines on top of the seven we had tasted at the vineyard, drinking was definitely not an option.

One more staircase. I felt we must be somewhere close to the centre of the earth by this time, but on stepping into the last room we were met by a glass wall revealing a vista over the river to huge orange cliffs, village hunched below, castle towering above. It was a stunning theatrical moment. Many wines would have been overshadowed by the splendour, but luckily Conrado had saved his best bottles for last. Finally we drank a couple of glasses as we ate a lunch of assorted tapas. Wine and food combined in perfect harmony.

Harmony seems to be the key word at Ontañón. Harmony of fruit and oak, of tradition and innovation, of history and modernity. It was an unforgettable visit – which I will revisit in my memory every time I enjoy a glass of their lovely Rioja.

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 27th June 2023. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.