About the producer
Carmelo Rodero belongs to an ancient line of wine producers in the Ribera town of Pedrosa de Duero. From the time he was an adolescent, he began to invest his first earnings in new vine plantings, building up a considerable holding, even selling grapes from his then 50 hectares of vineyards to the legendary Vega Sicilia winery for 14 years. It was in 1990 that he embarked on his own project with his wife Elena. Today, a new generation has followed with daugthers Beatriz and María who have joined the winery.
Specific weather conditions characterize this part of the Ribera where Atlantic and continental influences come together with warm, dry summers and long, harsh winters leading to dramatic temperature fluctuations. Carmelo knows intimately every inch of his 140 hectares of vineyards here, his holdings divided into different terroirs in order to exploit the distinct types of loam perfectly. On average, the vines are now more than 30 years old, combining younger vinestocks with those that are more than 100 years of age. Their vineyards lie at elevations ranging from 750m in the valleys to 900m in the hills. The soils are mostly clay and chalk combined with pebbles, silts and sands.
In the winery Carmelo and his two daughters take the greatest care of the grapes simply using gravity. Techniques include 100% destemmed grapes, thorough control of the maceration and fermentation temperature, malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tank, ageing mostly in French oak (only a very small percentage of American oak is employed at the bodega) followed by a minimum bottle ageing of 3 months before release.